A Devoted Son
by Beige Chocobo
Summary: A fic that I'm co-writing with Silver Chocobo. It's a Rurouni Kenshin crossover. Kenshin finds himself (more or less) the target of Ranma's traditional problems. Set in the Rurouni Kenshin timeline.
1. The Red Haired Woman

Disclaimer: We don't own any of the Ruroni Kenshin or Ranma  
characters contained herein. We just kidnapped them for the  
purposes of sticking them in this story.  
  
A Devoted Son  
  
By Insane Chocobo Productions (Beige and Silver)  
  
Part 1: The Red Haired Woman  
--------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
The sun set over Tokyo as the red haired woman walked up the  
path towards the city. She had traveled far over the last few days, all  
on rumors. She sighed to herself. It had been over twenty years now  
since she last saw her son. Even though he had been barely six when he  
disappeared she knew though that he was still alive, and that when she  
saw him she would recognize him immediately. She still remembered the  
promise so many years ago. She knew that Ranma was a man among men, and  
she knew exactly how manly he was.  
  
Ranma had changed his name during the revolution she knew. Many  
of those involved with the Ishin Shishi had done so, after all. She  
didn't know what name he might be going by now, but she remembered the  
description that she had been told. Red hair, with a cross-shaped scar  
on his cheek. Nodoka knew what Ranma had done in the Bakumatsu... She  
knew who Ranma had become.  
  
What a manly man Ranma had become during the revolution!  
  
She looked around and sighed. She walked up to a policeman  
standing on the corner. He was taller than her and his long black hair  
was bound back in a pigtail. At his side were she had expected to see  
one of the ugly western swords, was instead the finely crafted hilt of a  
katana.  
  
"Excuse me sir... I'm looking for my son." She said  
confidently. She knew that her son had been seen here recently, and if  
he was anywhere nearby then surely this police officer would know about  
it.  
  
"What is your sons name, ma'am? I might be able to help you."  
He stood looking down at her kindly, his eyes regarding the bundle she  
carried on her back with curiosity.  
  
"I do not know what name he may be going by now... But I know  
that he is the hitokiri battosai." The policeman stood there stunned  
for a moment. Then turned his attention back to the streets.  
  
"If Battosai is your son, you shouldn't be searching for him.  
He is beyond even the love of a mother I think." Nodoka turned her back  
on him as he said this. She missed the sad expression that filled his  
eyes as he finished. His expression softening as he watched the woman  
in the kimono walking away.  
  
"I wonder what became of my mother?" he whispered under his  
breath as she walked away into the darkness. "I can't even remember  
what she looked like."  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Nodoka's attention was attracted by a high pitched whistle. She  
ran towards where the whistle had come from. As she neared the source  
she could hear screams, and the clangs of steel on steel.  
  
"Could it be my Son is fighting some criminals? Oh how noble he  
has become!"  
  
As she neared the sounds the source became clear. There was a  
giant of a man fighting the police swordsmen. With each swing of his  
sword another one of the officers fell to the ground.  
  
"That is not my son." She whispered to herself. "If this man  
is the source of the rumor, then my journey was in vain." She turned to  
walk away when her attention was grabbed by a flash of fast movement in  
the corner of her eye. She turned to watch as a young girl jumped  
forward.  
  
"That's enough, Battosai!" She shouted as she swung her bokken  
at the man. Nodoka's mind reeled at what she had just said, but surely  
this man was not her son.  
  
She watched as the girl landed sliding to a stop from her  
attack. When she stopped, a tear in the sleeve of her shirt opened, and  
the girl gasped as a gush of blood sprayed from the wound. The girl  
stood up, a look of terror coming across her face as she realized that  
the giants attention was on her alone, and that the police were making  
no move to help her.  
  
Nodoka watched in terror as the man raised his sword above his  
head with his left hand. She wanted to close her eyes as she saw the  
blade swing down, but she couldn't for some reason. All of her  
attention was centered on what she knew in a moment would be the death  
of an innocent girl.  
  
Her attention was caught by a flash of red. At first she  
thought it was a early splash of blood. But what her eyes next saw was  
astonishing. The Giant's sword had slashed through nothing but air and  
the wall. There was no sign of the girl who had just been there.  
  
It was the she noticed the red haired man. In his arms he held  
the girl who had moments before had seemed doomed to die at the hands of  
the Giant. Her heart rejoiced. And she turned away from the scene,  
tears in her eyes.  
  
"Surely such a manly man must be my long lost son! I must go  
and talk to him!" She turned back and continued towards the scene, only  
to be greeted by the form of the Giant rushing towards her. She  
scrambled to be out of his path as he screamed.  
  
"I AM HIMURA BATTOSAI OF THE KAMIYA KATSUSHIN SCHOOL! I AM THE  
HITOKIRI BATTOSAI!"  
  
She lay there for a moment thinking... "Then its true, that man  
using the name of the battosai here is an imposter. My son practices  
the Hiten Mitsirugi Ryu, not Kamiya Kasshin." Her mind replayed the  
events as her minds eye slowed the events down. The red-haired man had  
appeared seemingly out of nowhere as the Giant's sword swung down on the  
girl. He had scooped her up in his arms faster than the eye could  
follow, and had moved her out of the path of the sword.  
  
"To move that fast... Surely he is my son! Only someone  
skilled in the Hiten Mitsirugi could do something such as that!"  
  
She ran towards the man and the woman who now seemed to be  
arguing about something.  
  
"You don't understand! The Kamiya Kasshin is my school! He's  
commiting murders in my name!" Nodoka watched as the man again scooped  
her up in his arms and ran off as police whistles sounded behind her.  
  
Nodoka hurried after the fast retreating form of the red haired  
man, but she couldn't keep up. She stopped catching her breath, a yawn  
coming as her eye lids suddenly seemed heavy.  
  
"I will go to the Kamiya dojo tomorow... Right now I need to  
find a place to stay the night." Again she wandered into the darkness  
of the night, shifting the bundle she carried to a more comfortable  
position.  
  
"I'm sorry maam... But thats not enough, its 1000 yen a night."  
  
"We are already full miss, there are no rooms for you."  
  
"No vacancy."  
  
"2000 yen up front for the room."  
  
Nodoka couldn't believe her horrible luck. The Inns she could  
afford were already full, and the ones with rooms left she couldn't  
afford. She sat down at the side of the street.  
  
"If the street is the only place for me to sleep tonight, then  
in the street I shall sleep." Her eyes closed and her voice trailed off  
as she nodded off to sleep. "Tomorrow I will meet my son."  
  
*** *** ***  
  
In her arms she held her son, it was that day so many years ago  
when she had last seen him.  
  
"Nodoka, if Ranma is to become a man among men then you must not  
coddle him! It is the way of our school to wander the world becoming  
strong so that we might protect the weak! Ranma must come with me if he  
is to be the heir to the Hiten Mitsiru..." She was roused as she heard  
footsteps coming close to her. Several men were whispering amongst  
themselves only a few feet away from her.  
  
"Hey check this out... She's got to have something worth some  
cash in that bundle she's holding!"  
  
"Yeah go see if you can take it without waking her up."  
  
"Its too late for that!" Screamed Nodoka as she unwrapped her  
bundle revealing the sword contained within. She unsheathed it, holding  
the blade clumsily in her untrained hands.  
  
"Shit! She's got a sword! cried one of them.  
  
"Calm down you fool, she obviously doesn't know how to use it!"  
said a man in the shadows. As he emerged she saw the cane in his hands,  
he pulled it apart to reveal a long blade. "Now why don't you give us  
the sword, I wouldn't want to have to hurt such a beautiful woman." His  
actions contradicted his words though as he walked towards her moving  
his sword into a threatening position.  
  
"Leave the lady alone if you value your health.... I really hate  
to have to waste my time arresting idiots like you."  
  
Several of the men looked around trying to figure out where the  
voice was coming from. A chuckle was heard and then there was a soft  
sound that sounded to Nodoka's ears like someone having just landed from  
a jump. Out of the shadows stepped the figure of the policeman she had  
seen earlier that night.  
  
"I'm disappointed. I had been so hoping to meet the Hitokiri  
Battosai tonight. You aren't even worth me getting my blade dirty."  
The thieves looked irritated.  
  
"Never mind her... Lets kill this guy!" They rushed forward,  
as Nodoka watched the cop seemed to blur, she heard the grunts of the  
thieves as punches and kicks were rained down on them by the officer.  
When the dust settled and Nodoka could see clearly again the police  
officer was standing there, his sword still in its sheath. At his feet  
were two of the men who had tried to steal her sword. The man with the  
cane sword looked shocked.  
  
"You won't beat me so easily!" He jumped forward, his sword  
raised above his head. There was a flash. Nodoka watched as the  
officers sword sliced through the blade of the cane sword, leaving the  
thief holding only the hilt. When he landed he knelt on the ground  
dumbfounded as the officer stepped up behind him unnoticed, hitting him  
on the head with the hilt of his own sword, putting the last of the  
crooks into unconsciousness. He sheathed his sword looking at the  
crooks on the ground with contempt.  
  
"I can't believe I have to waste my time on the likes of you."  
He turned his attention back to Nodoka, a look of relief on his face  
that she was alright.  
  
"Thank you officer for saving me from them, I don't know how I  
can thank you!" She cried as she ran towards him... He stepped to the  
side though as she came close to him, and he grabbed a hold of her  
shoulder as she passed.  
  
"I'm afraid though that I have to confiscate that from you." He  
said, his hand pointing at the end of her sword which, had he not moved,  
would have passed right through him.  
  
"Oh I'm terribly sorry! I... Wait, WHAT DO YOU MEAN CONFISCATE  
IT! I'M JUST TAKING IT TO MY SON!"  
  
"I'm sorry ma'am, but the sword ban doesn't make exceptions, and  
I think you'll agree with me that a woman with a sword alone in this  
part of town is just asking for trouble." He walked over and picked up  
the sheath. "Don't worry, I'll take the sword back to the station for  
safe keeping, and when you find your son you can come down with him and  
pick it up."  
  
Nodoka sighed. He had a point; if she were to keep walking  
around with a fine sword like that one she was asking for trouble. And  
the next time there wouldn't be a police officer around to save her.  
  
"All right," she said as the handed the sword to the man. "But  
I hold you to your word! I'm going to bring my Son with me and we are  
going to reclaim our family honor sword!"  
  
"I look forward to meeting the son of a fine woman like you,  
Ma'am." He said as he grabbed hold of the shirts of the men who had  
tried to rob her. He then turned and walked away to the east. The  
first rays of dawn shone on her face as she watched him walking away  
with the last reminder she had of her past.  
  
"I will reclaim my family." She thought as she headed for the  
place that she knew her Son would be... The Kamiya Dojo.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
"What do you have to report, Saotome? Did you find the Hitokiri  
Battosai?" Asked the chief of police of the officer.  
  
The chief initially received a minor glare for his answer, but  
then the man spoke. "The only arrest I made last night was of some  
thieves who were part of his gang. They haven't been questioned yet, but  
they probably know where his hideout is. And, we're not even sure if  
that IS Battousai were chasing."  
  
"Is there anything else to report about last night?"  
  
"Just a violation of the sword ban. I confiscated the sword and  
brought it back. Its locked up in the storage room... I have a feeling  
it will be there for a while." He then got up, and walked out of the  
room. As he walked out the door he noticed the figure leaning against  
the door.  
  
"Find the Battosai yet, Saotome?" Asked the man in a bemused  
tone.  
  
"Like you didn't hear the conversation, Hajime. All I found  
tonight was just another crazy old woman who thinks he's her son."  
  
"Sad isn't it? Why would so many of these women want to think  
their son was a killer with so much blood on his hands?"  
  
"Because he merely disappeared at the end of the war. He's  
probably still alive, and their sons aren't."  
  
"Still, what if one of them really is his mother. Don't you  
wonder what kind of a woman gave birth to the Battosai, Saotome?"  
  
"Every time I see a mother and child, Hajime."  
  
*** *** ***  
  
When Nodoka reached the Kamiya Dojo she watched as several  
police officers leading men through the gate. They didn't look like  
they were in good shape. She briefly wondered if one of the police  
officers there was the one who had saved her last night. She noticed,  
though, that few of them had swords, and the ones who did were carrying  
western style swords. She walked through the gates recognizing the  
woman who had fought the Giant last night.  
  
"That's right. They wanted me to sell the dojo to them so when I  
refused to sell they set out to dishonor our name." When she saw the  
police officer that had been talking to her, she recognized him  
immediately. It was hard to miss the pigtail, although now, instead of  
being dressed like a common officer, he was dressed in the uniform of a  
captain.  
  
"Was it him, sir? Was it Battosai?" Asked one of the other  
officers as she walked through the gates of the dojo.  
  
"The occupants of this dojo are of no further concern to us. We  
have all that we need."  
  
Nodoka turned to watch as the carriage pulled away from the  
gates. It was then that she was noticed by the woman.  
  
"Hello, I'm Kamiya Kaoru assistant master of this dojo... Would  
you like to take some classes?" She asked cheerfully as she walked up  
to Nodoka.  
  
"Actually, I'm here about the Red Haired man who I saw last  
night. Is he still here? I really must speak with him."  
  
"Oh you're here about Kenshin too..." She said in a very  
dissapointed tone. "May I ask why you're here to see him?"  
  
"Well you see I'm his..." She stopped as she noticed Kenshin  
walking out of the Dojo. She rushed over to him embracing him... She  
was so overcome with emotion she didn't say anything, the tears rolling  
down her cheeks as she whispered "I've finally found you after all these  
years, my son!"  
  
"Oro..."  
  
Kaoru was white as a sheet. Kenshin had just agreed to stay  
with her, and now there was some other woman who had shown up and was  
hugging him. She rushed over and grabbed Kenshin's pony tail.  
  
"Just what exactly do you think you're doing Mr. Ruroni! If  
you're going to stay here I think I deserve an explanation!"  
  
"Ah Kaoru-dono... I don't have an explanation... I think I  
should talk to this woman in private, she seems quite upset, that she  
does." Kaoru turned her attention to the woman and saw the tears  
pouring from her eyes. Her expression softened as she realized that  
this woman must be someone related to him.  
  
"Uh, yeah..." Kaoru walked away, not really wanting to know  
what the two were going to talk about. She knew nothing of Kenshin's  
past, other than what he had been, and she really didn't care. All she  
cared about was that Kenshin was there now, and she hoped he would stay.  
  
Kenshin watched as Kaoru walked back in to the dojo. Then he  
turned his attention back to the woman who was still latched on to him  
crying.  
  
"Why is it that you think I'm your son? I have no family...  
I'm a mere wanderer, that I am." Her face hardened slightly as she  
regarded him.  
  
"You don't look as manly as I thought you would Son." She said  
in a voice that made Kenshin's blood cold. "You are the Hittokiri  
Battosai, are you not?" She said in the same tone.  
  
"Yes" Said Kenshin nerviously.  
  
"You do practice the Hiten Mitsirugi Ryu, do you not? She  
continued.  
  
"Yes," responded Kenshin, who was growing more and more  
apprehensive at the womans questioning.  
  
"You did save that girl last night didn't you?"  
  
"y... yes..." Kenshin whispered, wondering why he had decided  
to talk to her in private.  
  
"Oh I knew that you would become manly!" She cried joyously.  
Kenshin fell over, too shocked by her sudden outburst to stay on his  
feet.  
  
"What happened?" yelled Kaoru as she rushed from the dojo.  
  
"Oh I'm so glad I finally found you! After all these years!  
Now that I've found you I can stop worrying about having enough money  
for someplace to stay! You can care for me in my old age!" Gushed  
Nodoka, as she continued in her overly exuberant rant.  
  
"Kaoru-dono, I think she needs to stay here, that I do."  
  
Kaoru nodded as she watched Nodoka doing a funny little dance of  
joy in front of the dojo. "A woman in her state shouldn't be on the  
streets."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
Authors' note: Well, as there are two of us writing, this might go a bit  
faster. The fic is part of a double story line. One sequence of events  
is set durring the Bakumatsu, and one in the tenth year of the Meiji  
Restoration. (read: durring the normal Ruroni Kenshin time frame) Both  
story arcs have separate titles, which happen to be puns. See if you can  
figure out what the pun for the Meiji arc is on. If you guess it  
successfully, well either send ya a congratulatory e-mail, write up a  
list to put in the next chapter.... depending on how we feel/how many  
people guess.  
  
This fanfiction can be found at these sites:  
http://www.geocities.com/beigechocobo  
http://www.crosswinds.net/~salee/index.html  
  
Please send C&C to both silverchocobo@usa.net and  
richard.o.sienkewicz@lawrence.edu  
  
Flames will be used in attempts to dispose of any hitokiri that we don't  
need anymore. Especially if they know things that might threaten us in  
the future.  
  



	2. The Yakuza's Youngest

Disclaimer: We don't own any of the Ruroni Kenshin or Ranma  
characters contained herein. Weve just blackmailed them into  
working for us for a little bit.  
  
A Devoted Son  
  
By Insane Chocobo Productions (Beige and Silver)  
  
Part 2: The Yakuza's Youngest  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
"NNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"  
  
Kaoru awoke with a start. Someone was screaming, and from the  
sound of it something extremely bad had happened! She rushed out of her  
room, and ran towards the location of the scream, and there she  
found.... Nodoka berating Kenshin for doing the laundry???  
  
Kenshin had been washing some laundry early in the morning, and  
Nodoka had come out and found him. Kaoru rubbed her eyes, swore under  
her breath at having been woken up so early, and walked back inside so  
that she could go back to sleep.  
  
"Now, son, I know that you only wish to help your poor old  
mother with her tasks, but doing the laundry simply isn't manly! Unless  
of course you're just attempting to steal Kaoru's underwear." Having  
said this she pulled out a small silky garment out of the wash and threw  
it at Kenshin. "Here son, now you have what you sought without having  
to demean yourself with menial work."  
  
Kenshin's mind took a moment to register what the garment on his  
head was, but once he comprehended what Nodoka had just said, he pulled  
it off his head quickly and tossed it back into the tub of water that  
was on the ground.  
  
"You don't understand! I don't have anything to do here! I  
feel like I'm taking advantage of Kaoru-dono's hospitality!"  
  
Nodoka sighed, and shook her head at Kenshin's response.  
  
"Son if you wish to thank Kaoru, then do it by being manly!" At  
this Kenshin's face reddened as he grasped what Nodoka was hinting at.  
"To be manly you must train! You must peep! You must steal underwear!  
You must protect the innocent! You must train! And above all, you must  
be manly!"  
  
Kenshin fell over to the side, somewhat relieved by Nodoka's  
continued ranting, but not entirely sure he liked her definition of what  
was manly. Nodoka paused, thinking about something, then, after a  
moment, continued much more quietly than before.  
  
"Besides, son... I think that taking advantage of her is  
exactly what Kaoru wants." Upon hearing this, Kenshin slipped away to  
unconciousness. Nodoka turned her attention back to the wash,  
disregarding the collapsed form of Kenshin on the ground.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
The day had quieted down a great deal at the Kamiya dojo. Nodoka  
was doing laundry, and Kenshin was sulking because Nodoka refused to let  
him help. Kaoru was slightly confused about that bit. Exactly why was  
helping out with laundry when youre a boarder unmanly? Anyway, it was a  
quiet day for Kamiya Kaoru. MUCH too quiet a day!  
  
Even after Hiruma Gohei and Hiruma Kihei had been dealt with her  
students hadnt returned! She not only didn't have a single student at  
the moment (this was not helped by the fact that Kenshin, who had  
attracted quite a crowd because he took out the entire Hiruma gang  
single-handedly, refused to teach a single class), and nothing else to  
do! Hmmm.... Maybe she could try her hand out at cooking lunch. Yes!  
That would take her mind off of her troubles. On that note, where HAD  
Nodoka and Kenshin gone off to?  
  
"No, Kenshin, you may NOT cook lunch. Its unmanly!"  
  
"Oro? What am I supposed to do then?"  
  
"Don't you remember what I told you this morning? There are many  
things you could do! You could train, be manly, peep in womens baths,  
save the innocent, and, of course, train!!! That's not to mention being  
manly!"  
  
"Oro...."  
  
Ah! There they were! Kaoru just couldn't understand Nodoka. How  
so honorable acting a woman could have such an odd idea of how men  
should act was far beyond her. Wait a minute.... Nodoka.... kitchen. No!  
Nodoka COULDN'T be cooking! This was Kaoru's chance to relax and forget  
that she didn't have any students!  
  
"Ano, Nodoka-san, I was planning on cooking lunch today. You've  
taken care of it every other day this week, and I was really...."  
  
"Of course, dear. Dont let me bother you. I'm sure that whatever  
you make will be just perfect! I'll just go and make sure that Kenshin  
isn't doing anything unmanly, like trying to do the laundry again. I  
don't know HOW many times I've had to stop him from doing that today."  
  
Kaoru smiled to herself as she began to gather the ingredients  
for lunch. This was going to be the best meal she ever cooked! Then she  
could forget that no students had arrived today. Her guests, well...  
boarders really. Anyway, whatever you call them, they would not be  
disappointed! And once Kenshin had tasted her wonderful cooking, he'd be  
sure never to want to leave the dojo again!  
  
Kaoru took a brief break from her cooking in order to engage in  
some quiet maniacal laughter.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Kaoru looked down at the burnt hulk that was supposed to be  
lunch. "I'm not sure how it could have got that way. I only left it for  
just a second.... Wait, I know! Kenshin, you can treat me to lunch!"  
  
"Eh?"  
  
"Let's go, Kenshin! You're treating us all to lunch at the  
Akabeko!"  
  
"Oro? Didn't you cook today?"  
  
Kaoru gritted her teeth. "Never mind that. Let's just go!"  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Some time (and many "Oro"s) later Kenshin was walking back down  
the street, returning from the Akabeko with Nodoka and Kaoru. Tokyo  
people were so comforting to watch! They didn't ever seem to have a care  
in the world. Just look at that touching scene over there. An old man  
and his grandson were looking at the contents of a stall, and the old  
man had just had his pocket picked by a young thief with blue-black  
hair. How sweet! Wait.... The old man had his pocket picked? How odd,  
the thief just put the wallet back in the grandsons hands. And why  
couldnt he shake off the feeling that he was being watched?  
  
He turned to Kaoru and Nodoka. "Go on ahead. There is something  
I would like to take care of."  
  
"Ah, what a manly attitude! Yes. We really should be going,  
shouldnt we Kaoru?"  
  
After they had gone, Kenshin scanned the crowd, looking for  
whoever was watching him, with no luck. Whoever was watching him was  
quite good at masking their presence. He would make himself known in his  
own time, and not until then. There was no reason for Kenshin to worry  
about that until it happened. He should be on his way. Hmmm.... The  
thief that he had watched previously was still standing in the road,  
staring at the old man and his grandson.  
  
Kenshin started walking back on his way, patting the young thief  
on the head as he passed by.  
  
The thief scoweled. "What'd ya do that for?"  
  
"No reason. I just thought you were kind just then, that I did."  
  
The kid scowled at Kenshin as he walked away. How DARE he act  
that way! "I'll show HIM!"  
  
Kenshin had reached the bridge and was crossing, when someone  
bumped into him from behind. The thief from before ran past him for a  
few steps, and then tripped over his own feet, dropping Kenshin's wallet  
in the process.  
  
Kenshin looked at his wallet for a moment, and then shrugged.  
"Ah well. What's stolen is stolen. You should be more careful next time,  
kid."  
  
Kenshin walked past the thief and started on his way, when  
something hit him in the back of the head.  
  
"I dont need your stinking pity! Im Tendo Akane, daughter of  
samurai! I havent fallen so far that Im willing to take charity from  
anyone! And Im NOT A KID!"  
  
Kenshin was puzzled for a second thinking, Daughter? But I  
thought she was a boy. Then he smiled and spoke to the young girl.  
"Hmmm... You may not be full grown yet, but your heart is grown up, that  
it is. Im sorry I treated you like a child. You should cherish that  
pride you have. It could serve you well."  
  
Akane scowled at Kenshin briefly, and then ran off.  
  
Neither seemed to noticed the figure standing off in the shadows  
raise an eyebrow at the proceedings, and then frown as he noticed the  
sheath at Kenshin's side.  
  
Kenshin started walking once more, and then stopped as he sensed  
the watching presence again. This time he spoke. "Alright, whoever's  
watching me, show yourself! I know you're there!"  
  
There was no response, other than the odd looks he received from  
the people around him. It was of no use..... The person who was watching  
him still did not want to make his appearance. Kenshin had turned to be  
on his way once more, when someone stopped him by placing a hand on his  
shoulder. He turned around to see the pigtailed police officer that  
Kaoru-dono had talked to the evening before.  
  
"That wouldn't be a katana, would it, Himura-san?"  
  
"No. This is a sakabattou, that it is."  
  
The officer narrowed his eyes for a moment. "You wouldn't mind if  
I took a look at it then, would you?"  
  
"Not at all..... Here it is." He then handed the sword to the  
officer. "You will find that this sword is quite incapable of killing."  
  
The officer drew the blade from its sheath and examined it with  
extreme care. "Hmmm.... This is quite well made, and the blade side  
doesn't even have a scratch on it... It's practically new." He sheathed  
the sakabattou once more, and handed it back to Kenshin. "A sword like  
this isn't much of a threat to anyone. You can go now, Himura-san. But  
remember, other officers may not be as tolerant of your sakabattou as I  
am." With that, he turned and walked off into the crowd, vanishing among  
the people of Tokyo much faster than Kenshin would have expected a  
uniformed officer to be able to.  
  
Kenshin stared in the direction he had gone and frowned for a  
second. Just who WAS that officer? And how did the officer know his  
name? Was he also one of Ishin Shishi? Did they know each other? Had  
they fought alongside each other? Or had he been one of the Shinsengumi  
and fought against each other? Ah well, it wouldnt help to think about  
it while standing in the middle of the street. He should get going.  
Hmmm.... Hadn't Tae-san mentioned something about a local child being in  
debt to the Yakuza after her parents had died? Maybe he should do  
something about that.... After all, if he didn't and Nodoka-san found  
out, he would be in for an earful. Kenshin winced. THAT was something he  
didn't ever want to go through again. Now where was that Yakuza den  
located?  
  
*** *** ***  
  
"Kenshin!" Kaoru called out to the retreating ex-hitokiri.  
"Kenshin! Where are you going?"  
  
Kenshin jumped in the and quickly turned around, his hand on the  
hilt of his sakabattou. "Oh, Kaoru-dono, you surprised me. This is not a  
very safe part of town for you to be in, that it is not."  
  
Kaoru frowned. "Stop trying to change the subject, Kenshin! I  
want to know what you're up to. Its about that kid who bumped into you  
on the bridge, isn't it? That was the Yakuza pickpocket who Tae-san was  
warning us about, wasn't it?"  
  
"Oro? How did you know about that Kaoru-dono? You had gone one  
ahead with Nodoka-san, that you had."  
  
"Eheheheh... That's right, isn't it? Oh, look! Isn't that  
Nodoka-san? I think she's looking for you!" As soon as Kenshin turned to  
look, Kaoru dashed off in the direction of the Yakuza hideout, bokken in  
hand. She just COULDN'T let Kenshin know that she had doubled back to  
spy on him. He'd never trust her again! And anyway, she had to hurry to  
save that poor child from the Yakuza!  
  
"Kaoru-dono, wait!"  
  
Kaoru turned to find Kenshin only a couple steps behind her. She  
stopped and turned to face him. "But that kid could be in danger from  
the Yakuza! We have to help him."  
  
"Don't worry, Kaoru-dono. I shall take care of it, that I will.  
You should return to the dojo and prepare to treat whatever wounds the  
girl has. I will make sure she arrives."  
  
"Girl? What do you mean Girl?"  
  
"The child is a girl, Kaoru-dono. And I must be going now,  
otherwise it may be too late. Please, prepare the medicines at the dojo  
to treat her. I will be there shortly."  
  
*** *** ***  
  
"Stupid girl! We take you in after your parents die and this is  
how you repay us? With insolence? How would you survive on your precious  
honor? We keep you alive! We OWN you!"  
  
A Yakuza member carrying a long wooden cane yelled at Akane, who  
had been forced to kneel in front of the groups boss.  
  
She raised her head in defiance. "I don't know, and I don't care!  
I will NOT steal any more! Ill get a job to pay off my debt to you, but  
I will not dishonor myself anymore!"  
  
"Fool! Do you think this is about some stupid debt? We'll own you  
'till the day you die! But maybe youre right. You have outlived your  
usefulness as a pickpocket.... Madam Liao needs some new girls, doesn't  
she, chief? Maybe little Akane here would be of more use there!"  
  
The Yakuza boss nodded. "Very well, Gasuke, you may deliver her  
to Madam Liao. If she puts up too much resistance, however, you have my  
permission to kill her."  
  
Gasuke grabbed a struggling Akane by the shirt and was dragging  
her towards the door when one of the shoji at the side of the room burst  
in.  
  
Kenshin stepped through the hole in the wall, his hand at the  
hilt of the sakabattou. "It seems that I have arrived here in time."  
  
"An intruder! Get him!" yelled the boss, as he backed away from  
where Kenshin stood.  
  
Kenshin narrowed his eyes and spoke agan, "I am afraid your men  
won't be coming, no matter how much you call. They were reluctant to let  
me in, so I put them to sleep for a while."  
  
"W...Who are you?" The boss suddenly did not feel so comfortable  
in his own building and attempted to back up farther away from Kenshin.  
  
"Himura Kenshin, a wanderer. I am here to ask you to release the  
girl."  
  
Gasuke snarled, and drew a sword that had been concealed in his  
cane before advancing. "Another samurai, are you? I'll just have to kill  
you, then!"" He charged Kenshin, blade held high over his head in  
preparation for a killing blow.  
  
Kenshin simply raised the hilt of his sakabattou and slammed it  
into Gasuke's chin when he came close enough. Gasuke flew across the  
room, only to collapse in a heap. Kenshin hadnt even looked at him  
during the whole confrontation.  
  
Kenshin turned, and half faced Gasukes prone form. "I wasn't  
done speaking yet. Why don't you just rest there while I finish talking  
to your boss?" He turned back to the Yakuza boss. "How about it? Why  
don't you exercise your generosity and let the girl go? I'm sure that  
will be much more appreciable than having your entire group put out of  
commision...."  
  
"T..The kid's yours. Just get out!"  
  
"Thank you for your generosity. I appologize for my impertinent  
request." He then turned to face Akane and smiled. "Are you alright,  
kid? I would have gotten here sooner, but I was held up along the way."  
  
Akane snarled. "Who asked for your help, you pervert? I could  
have fought them myself!"  
  
Kenshin looked shocked for a moment, and then smiled again. "It  
seems that Ive underestimated you once more." He then grabbed the back  
of Akane's shirt and started carrying her off. "Please allow me to take  
you to get your wounds treated by means of appology."  
  
The remaining Yakuza thugs prepared to chase off after Kenshin,  
when the boss spoke up. "Wait! Let them go. It's not worth it...... That  
man had the eyes of a killer. I didn't think that there were any men  
like him left in the Meiji era. If he truly intended us harm, we  
wouldn't be worrying about tending the wounded. There wouldn't be enough  
coffins to go around. We got off lucky that he only took one kid."  
  
"Oh, I think you'll be losing much more than one kid, myself. Not  
very lucky, don't you agree?"  
  
The Yakuza chieftain turned, only to see a group of police  
swordsmen, headed by a pigtailed man in a police captains uniform who  
was carrying a katana.  
  
The pigtailed officer spoke again. "You see, if you had been  
lucky, we wouldn't have noticed that you had been expanding your  
operations and taken advantage of the wonderful opportunity that  
Himura-san created for us. As it is, you're QUITE unlucky. I mean, look  
at all these swords your men were carrying. He gestured back towards the  
unconscious men sprawled all over the passage that he had come through.  
We can't allow actions like that, now can we?" He smiled in a way that  
was not intended to look kind in any way. "I'm sure you and your men  
will grow to love your new living quarters. At least youd better, as  
they will be your home for quite some time. All right, men. Take them  
away."  
  
The police swordsmen spread out through the Yakuza, grabbing  
them and dragging them through the building to a group of carriages that  
had just pulled up outside the building.  
  
The pigtailed man turned towards the single remaining officer,  
who was leaning against the doorway to the Yakuza boss room while  
smoking a cigarette. He also had a katana at his side, instead of a  
Western sword. "It was quite considerate of Battousai to give us this  
chance, don't you agree, Hajime?"  
  
The officer snorted, "Hmmmph. Hardly worth our time at all,  
Saotome. We would have had more of a challenge fighting a group of  
children."  
  
"Too true, Hajime, but we must keep up appearances. It just  
wouldnt do if we passed up an opportunity to deal with as large a group  
of Yakuza as this. Maybe next time you'll get lucky and a worthy  
opponent will show up to challenge you."  
  
"If one did show up, he would almost certainly go after  
Battousai." He ground his cigarette out on the floor, scowled, and then  
continued speaking. "After all, there's no fame involved in challenging  
the police officer Fujita Goro, and thats how I've been known for some  
time now. Challenging the Hitokiri Battousai, on the other hand....."  
  
"Well, I'll just have to make sure that Battousai's fights don't  
spill over and involve the people, now wont I?" He let out a brief  
chuckle. "The Shinsengumi's third captain, Hajime Saito, won't need to  
rise from the dead in order to quell the disturbances..... And neither  
will my own darker self."  
  
*** *** ***  
  
"Damn......Damn......Damn......Damn." Akane cursed from her  
position being carried by her shirt, while slung over Kenshin's  
shoulder.  
  
"You felt helpless, didn't you, kid? You felt as if there was  
nothing you could do to stop them...."  
  
"I want to be strong.... So that I don't need your help again...  
So that I can protect myself from anyone....."  
  
"I see...."  
  
They soon arrived at the Kamiya dojo. Kenshin deposited Akane on  
the ground just inside the gates.  
  
"What is this place?"  
  
"Its a dojo. Starting tomorrow, you can learn swordsmanship  
here."  
  
"Swordsmanship?"  
  
The door to the house opened, and Kaoru stepped out. "There you  
are, Kenshin! Is the kid alright?"  
  
"Ah! There's the Assistant Master of the Kamiya Kashin Ryu,  
Kamiya Kaoru- dono.... Your new master."  
  
"What? You expect me to learn from that old hag?"  
  
"Her master? You want me to teach this kid Kendo?"  
  
"That's right."  
  
Kaoru and Akane began yelling at the same time. "No Way!"  
  
"I'm supposed to learn from this ugly old witch?"  
  
"I'm supposed to be teaching this ignorant little brat?"  
  
They than turned their backs towards each other, speaking almost  
in unison a second time. "There's no way youre gonna get me do that!"  
  
A large bead of sweat grew on Kenshins forehead as he looked on  
at the brewing fight. "These two are MUCH too similar, that they are."  
He was so absorbed in watching Kaoru and Akane argue that he didn't  
notice Nodoka's approach.  
  
"The night is still young, son. What are you doing here?" She  
then handed him a large, empty sack. "You should be out stealing women's  
undewear!!!"  
  
"Orooooooooooo......."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
Authors note: Well, thats chapter 2 taken care of. We'll be  
replacing the odd character here and there but, for the most  
part, it will be Kenshin characters that make up the cast. In  
fact, Yahiko is the only major recurring character who gets  
replaced outright. Two annoying brats in the same fic just  
doesn't work out. The others that we do change just get shoved  
off to some other corner of the fic for a bit before making  
their appearance. All of your questions on characterization,  
plot, etc. will be answered in Chapter 42: "Dont Panic."  
  
This, and previous chapters are at:  
http://www.geocities.com/beigechocobo  
http://www.crosswinds.net/~salee/index.html  
  
Please send C&C to both silverchocobo@usa.net and  
richard.o.sienkewicz@lawrence.edu  
  
Flames will be used to offer sacrifices up to Silicanus, the  
almighty computer god.  



	3. Just who is this woman, Anyway?

  
Disclaimer: We don't own any of the characters from either  
Rurouni Kenshin or Ranma. We're just leasing them from Nabiki for  
the duration of this fic.  
  
A Devoted Son  
  
By Insane Chocobo Productions (Beige and Silver)  
  
Part 3: Just who is this woman, anyway?  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
The clean white garments blew in the wind as they dried on the  
line. Kenshin sighed as he watched them. Ever since "his mother" had  
shown up, she hadn't let him help out with any of the household chores.  
He hadn't been able to do the wash, he hadn't been able to cook. He  
hadn't even been allowed to help stoke the fire underneath the furo.  
  
No, none of those tasks were manly enough for him according to  
Nodoka. When he had tried to help with the wash, she had insisted that  
he instead try stealing underwear. When he had attempted to cook,  
Nodoka had insisted that he leave it to her and go train, and when he  
had tried to help with the fire under the furo, Nodoka had draged him  
into the dojo and had pushed him into the room, with a naked and enraged  
Kaoru.  
  
Kenshin was so involved with his irritation at being idle, that  
he did not notice the footsteps approaching him from behind until it was  
too late.  
  
"Kenshin, I was wondering if you would accompany me on a little  
errand that I have been meaning to take care of for the last few days.  
It will not take a long time at all." Nodoka paused, giving Kenshins  
mind just enough time to run through all the possibilities of a task  
that she might need his help with. After some deliberation, his mind  
arrived at the only possible reaction that he had prepared in response  
to this kind of situation.  
  
"Oro..."  
  
Nodoka sighed, grabbing a hold of Kenshin's hair. As she dragged  
him out of the door of the Dojo, his face remained locked in an  
expression of shock. He did not recover until it was far too late for  
him to turn back and refuse Nodoka's request. When Kenshin was next  
aware of his surroundings he had already been dragged for several blocks  
away from the Dojo, and Nodoka was in full rant.  
  
"...and that is what I think you should say to Kaoru the next  
time you see her. After all, she is just waiting for a manly man like  
you to stop by and whisk her off her feet. Why, if her father were  
still alive, I'm sure that he would have insisted that you marry his  
daughter the very moment he first laid eyes on you.  
  
Of course, the most important thing right now is that you are  
here, spending time with your poor old mother in her time of need. They  
told me to come back when I found my son. And now that I have, we can  
both go back in order to reclaim our families honor by retrieving our  
katana from the police impound!"  
  
"And why would you need another katana when it seems your son  
already has one?" asked a voice from ahead of her. Several police  
officers were standing in the middle of the street, all of them members  
of the elite armed police. Two of them were in the process of carrying  
off someone, who was apparently a shop-lifter, along with the owner of  
the shop.  
  
"This is a sakabattou, that it is," said Kenshin quickly,  
pulling the sword slightly out of the sheath. The exposed part of the  
blade showed that the wrong side of the sword was sharpened.  
  
"HAHAHAHA!!!" The officer laughed out loud for several seconds,  
before addressing his companions. "Fine, then... Just ignore Mr. Sakaba  
here, get those two out of here!"  
  
One of the women who had been standing in the crowd latched on  
to the old man's shirt, tears flowing from her eyes as she began to  
plead with the policeman who was leading him away.  
  
"Please wait! Why must you take my father too?"  
  
"He sided with the criminal." The officer responded coldly,  
knocking her to the ground. He turned away in disgust, leading the  
girl's father off.  
  
"Please someone help us! My father is innocent!"  
  
"Arrest the girl too..." Ordered the captain of the police  
swordsmen, he stopped for a moment, a cold gleam entering his eyes as he  
thought of the appropriate punishment. "Teach them all a lesson,  
EXECUTE THEM!"  
  
Some people in the crowd looked as if they were going to shout  
at the police as they prepared to carry out the public execution, but  
fear of the officers stopped them.  
  
"Do it," ordered the Captain. It was then that Kenshin stepped  
forward. The captain turned to face the sound of the footsteps.  
  
"Identify yourself!"  
  
"Himura Kenshin... If these people have commited a crime then I  
will repent for all of them." Kenshin turned around to face the  
captain, who immediately drew his sword. The tip of the blade stopped  
only inches from Kenshin's face, but his eyes showed not even a hint of  
fear.  
  
"How manly my son looks defending the innocent!" thought Nodoka,  
as she watched the fight begin.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
The two police swordsmen walked towards the place where the  
disturbance had been reported. As they approached the on-going fight,  
they made note of the reddish blur that was moving through the  
attacking group of police swordsmen at what would be a quite astounding  
speed to most observers. However, these were not most observers.  
  
They stood off to the side, watching with interest as Kenshin  
defeated the police swordsmen... They had missed the start of the  
fight, but now it was in full swing; the one red haired swordsman  
fighting the rest of the armed police single-handedly.  
  
"He's not bad, but he's leaving way too many openings."  
  
"I have to agree, Saotome. He relies far too much on his  
opponents attacking with their swords. If one of them were to throw a  
punch or a kick he really wouldn't be ready for it. It would leave him  
completely open for a moment or so, and could very well get him killed."  
  
"Of course he may have just anticipated that they would attack  
only with their swords. Then again, as far as just his swordsmanship is  
concerned, he's not that bad."  
  
"Yeah, he's just out of practice, isnt he? Given some time, he  
might be back to his old self."  
  
"I think that's what he's trying to avoid Fujita. Look, he's  
overriding his own instincts, hesitating before he strikes. If he were  
facing better swordsmen, they would take advantage of that hesitation  
in order to get hits in. If he doesn't stop fighting himself it could  
be fatal."  
  
Suddenly their attention was drawn off of the ongoing critique  
of Kenshins fighting form when the last of the regular police swordsmen  
fell to the ground, unconscious. Only the captain remained standing. He  
raised his sword high above his head in preparation for a final attack.  
  
"The Ninotachi Irazu is a powerful move, but against Hiten  
Mitsirugi Ryu he doesn't stand a chance. Ujiki's leaving himself wide  
open to attack. All Himura has to do is dodge the slash and he'll have  
more than enough time to strike."  
  
"What attack do you think he'll use Saotome? Will he attack the  
back, neck or side?"  
  
"Well, Fujita, if I were him, I'd hit them all at once, plus a  
couple more. Its so easy to hit the head, left shoulder, right  
shoulder, left arm, right arm, left wrist, right wrist, crotch, and  
chest all at the same time that it's not even funny." He paused,  
grinning, before speaking again. "But I don't think that Himura knows  
that little trick yet. He'll probably just go for the back."  
  
As they watched Ujiki rushed forward swinging his sword down as  
hard and fast as he could. He only cut air though. True to Saotomes  
prediction, Kenshin had leaped over Ujikis head and slashed  
horizontally across his back as he landed, sending him down into the  
dirt.  
  
"How do you do it Saotome?"  
  
Saotome grinned fiendishly, and wagged his finger at his  
companion. "Now that.... is a secret."  
  
*** *** ***  
  
After the dust had settled Kenshin was still standing, and the  
last of the police swordsmen drifted off to unconsciousness. The crowd  
rushed in to show their appreciation. However, Nodoka quickly pulled  
Kenshin out of the throng.  
  
"Come on, son... We can't go get the sword from the station  
now... We have to get out of here before more of them arrive!"  
  
"And why would you want to do a thing like that?" Came a voice  
from behind Nodoka's back. She stopped in her tracks and turned around  
with her head bowed and eyes closed, not wanting to know what punishment  
these policemen would have for herself and her son.  
  
"I'm sorry officer, I humbly appologize for the actions that my  
son just took and my actions trying to remove him from the..."  
  
"I'd like to thank you Himura-san. These people owe you their  
lives. I'm sure that if you hadn't come along this would have been a far  
worse blemish on the face of our police force." Nodoka looked up,  
shocked. It was the same officer who had saved her the night she had  
been attacked... The one who had confiscated her sword in the first  
place! "The truth is, we've been keeping our eye on Ujiki for a while  
now. We suspected that he had been abusing his authority, but didn't  
have any proof yet. I can guarantee you that he won't be causing any  
more trouble for the innocent where he's going."  
  
Kenshin nervously eyed the officer. Ever since he had first  
seen him there was something unnerving about him. How did he know his  
name? How did he always seem to turn up when trouble started, and why  
did he carry a Japanese sword instead of the standard issue Western  
sabres? It was then that he caught sight of a person he thought he'd  
never see again out of the corner of his eye.  
  
"Thats Saito Hajime, captain of the 3rd division of the  
Shisengumi." He whispered to himself in shock. The officer watched  
Kenshin's reaction with a amused look on his face.  
  
"Fujita!" He called out.  
  
"What is it now," came the reply from the man Kenshin had  
noticed earlier. There could be no mistake, he was Mibu's Wolf. What  
was he doing still alive, in tokyo, and working for the police?  
  
"Get Ujiki and his men into restraints. They're sure not to be  
in a good mood when they wake up." The other officer grumbled as he  
pulled out short lengths of rope and tied the arms of the unconscious  
officers behind their backs. Kenshin watched in amazement, as the  
officer, who had just ordered Saito to tie up the officers Kenshin had  
just fought, turned his attention to Nodoka.  
  
"I see you found your son Himura-san," He said, jovially. "Why  
don't you accompany me back to the station so that I can give your sword  
back to you in person."  
  
"That would be lovely... Except that my name isn't Himura. My  
son changed his name sometime after he left me, so I can understand how  
you would make that mistake. My name is Saotome Nodoka." The officer  
looked dumbfounded for a moment, and the one tying up the officers had  
stopped as well, looking up and staring for a moment before they both  
regained their composure.  
  
"Well then, Saotome-san, why don't we go and get your sword."  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Nodoka and Kenshin walked out of the police station. Kenshin  
nervously looked at the bundle that Nodoka was carrying. Inside it, he  
knew, was a very expensive, and finely crafted Katana. He knew that  
she wanted to give it to him, but he really wasn't sure how he would  
handle it.  
  
After all, hadn't he sworn that he would never kill again? That  
was why he carried the sakabattou. How could he accept a sword from  
anyone, even his mother, that he might use to kill?  
  
Ranma watched them walking away from the window of the station.  
He had a strange expression on his face as he watched the copper haired  
woman carrying the bundle that he knew contained the Saotome family  
sword. Saitoh stood on the other side of the room smoking, not showing  
much interest in the whole affair.  
  
"Unbelievable. She really is the mother of the Hitokiri  
Battosai." He paused, taking time to exhale another cloud of smoke into  
the room. "Too bad she picked the wrong one." Saito leaned back against  
the wall, waiting for Ranma's response.  
  
"I really doubt that she is his mother, or anyone's mother at  
all. Anyone who isn't six feet under, that is. There IS more than one  
family named Saotome in the world, after all. Shes probably just another  
delusional old woman, driven insane by grief."  
  
Saito looked at Ranma and scowled. "Why did you have to order me  
around in front of Battousai anyway, Saotome? You know damnded well that  
I hate taking orders!.... And you're not even my superior officer!  
NEITHER of us is the others superior!"  
  
"Ah, but Hajime! That will keep Battousai confused! He doesn't  
know who I am, and it puzzles him that I was able to order his old enemy  
around so easily. He will pay more attention to me than to you, making  
your assignment that much easier to complete...."  
  
"You know, Saotome, he COULD be your 'long lost brother'........  
But wouldn't that make your little relationship illegal?"  
  
"Shut up before I cut your tongue out, Saito."  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Kenshin and Nodoka arrived back at the gates of the Dojo.  
Nodoka stopped just outside, unwrapping the bundle. She slowly pulled  
the sword out of the wrapping. Nodoka ran her hand along the sheath as  
she pulled the sword out. This would be the last time the sword was  
hers, and she had a hard time parting with the sword that had been her  
only connection to her past for the last twenty years.  
  
"Son," she stood there shaking, tears entering her eyes. "Will  
you accept our family's honor blade? So that you may preserve the honor  
of our family?" Kenshin stared at her. He still thought that she had  
the wrong man, she wasn't the first widow who had decided that he was  
her son after all. Then again, she did know about the Hiten Mitsirugi  
Ryu, look somewhat similar to him, and she had managed to track him  
down...  
  
Kenshin bowed deeply and took the sword from Nodokas hands. "I  
would be honored to receive such a noble blade. I will attempt to live  
up to that which it represents."  
  
"Oh my son you've made me so happy!" She exclaimed, her arms  
wrapping around Kenshin, who barely avoided skewering her on the blade,  
in a hug. She cried tears of joy at finally having completed her duty.  
Kenshins arms drooped to his sides, at first, but then he moved his  
left arm around her, still holding the sword in that hand.  
  
"Kenshin..." Came Kaoru's voice from the gate of the dojo.  
  
"Oro... Kaoru-dono I..."  
  
Kaoru turned to walk back into the dojo. Kenshin pulled away  
from Nodoka and followed her into the dojo. He followed her in to the  
dojo sliding the door shut behind him.  
  
"Kaoru-dono, I was wondering if you would take care of this for  
me."  
  
"After what I just saw why exactly do you seem to think handing  
me a sword is a good idea, Kenshin?" Kenshin looked  
  
"I have sworn not to kill, Kaoru-dono, and I want you to make  
sure that I don't use the sword my mother gave me to break my oath."  
  
"Ara... Your... Mother?" Asked Kaoru, confused... Her mind  
worked quickly. "Of course! Why didn't I see it sooner! You look  
exactly like her! Wait a minute! She isn't old enough to be your  
mother, she looks barely thirty! If you're twenty nine years old, then  
how old is she?"  
  
Kenshin shrugged. "I don't think its true though... When I was  
little both my parents died from cholera... At least I think they both  
died. I was captured by slave traders shortly after they were able to  
see a doctor, and never saw them again. I DO know that my family name  
was Himura, though." Kaoru hadn't heard any of this though, she was too  
busy fitting all of Nodoka's actions to this new information.  
  
"...so that was why she didn't let you do chores! Wouldn't let  
you cook, or clean and insisted that you be 'manly' all the time,  
whatever that means." Kaoru took the sword from Kenshins hands. "I'll  
put this somewhere safe."  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Kaoru walked out of the dojo to find Nodoka sitting on the deck  
watching the sunset. She stared at the woman who she now firmly  
believed was Kenshin's mother. The wind blew her hair out, the red  
rays of dusk accenting the red in its color, making her look even more  
like Kenshin. Right now the similarity was so obvious that she  
wondered how she had missed it before.  
  
"I apologize for my behavior before Himura-san, I didn't realize  
that you were Kenshin's mother." Kaoru bowed with her eyes closed.  
  
"I accept your apology Kaoru-san, but my name is Saotome  
Nodoka... People seem to be making that mistake quite often as of late.  
My son still uses an assumed name he must have started using some time  
after he left me."  
  
"Oh then let me apologize for my mistake Saotome-san."  
Nodoka nodded and then resumed watching the sunset. Kaoru was amazed  
by this woman.  
  
"So what was Kenshin like as a child?" Kaoru asked as she sat  
down next to Nodoka.  
  
"Its been so long since I lost him... He was so little when I  
saw him last... He had only just started to walk. I remember when my  
husband took him. I begged him not to leave, but he insisted that this  
was the way of the Hiten Mitsirugi Ryu, and that he would return with my  
son when he had become a man among men. But that was the last time I  
saw him." Nodoka turned to look at Kaoru. Kaoru sat with her mouth  
hanging open.  
  
"Did you say Hiten Mitsirugi Ryu? How did you know what school  
Kenshin practiced?" Kaoru asked astonished.  
  
"Yes. The Hiten Mitsirugi Ryu is my husband's family's school.  
That is how I knew Kenshin must be my son. Who else would be using such  
a rare technique?"  
  
Somewhere not all that far away, a certain pig-tailed police  
officer sneezed.  
  
Kaoru remained shocked even after this response.  
  
"How long ago was it that they left, anyway? Kenshin doesn't  
look a day over twenty after all..."  
  
"Oh dear me... Hasn't he told you? He's nearly thirty! The  
last time I saw him must have been at least twenty-five years ago."  
  
"But Saotome-san that would make you... How old are you?"  
  
"You know you shouldn't ask a woman her age Kaoru-san..." Then  
she leaned closer to Kaoru. "But just between you and me, I'm 43."  
  
The sun sank beneath the wall of the dojo, the light fading from  
the area where Kaoru and Nodoka sat. Nodoka stood and turned to walk  
into the dojo.  
  
"I'm going to retire for the evening Kaoru-san... If you want,  
I can sleep in the Dojo, I know you and Kenshin want your privacy."  
Nodoka giggled as she walked in to the dojo. Kaoru blushed and remained  
sitting on the deck.  
  
"She really is Kenshin's mother!" She thought to herself, her  
mind still trying to overcome the shock of the revelation.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Kenshin walked into the dining room to find Kaoru and Nodoka  
already eating, they seemed to be having a lively conversation of which  
he was certain to be the subject. He sat down and began to eat the miso  
that was set before him. He listened to the conversation as he ate...  
  
"So Kenshin used to wet himself at the sight of someone with a  
sword?" Kaoru and Nodoka laughed at this and Kenshin's face turned red  
with embarrassment. Even if he didn't believe that she was his mother,  
conversations like this reminded him far too much of his master.  
  
Nodoka stopped laughing suddenly glancing down at her empty  
bowl.  
  
"Kenshin, can you pass me some more Miso?" She asked.  
  
Kenshin picked up the ladle which lay near the large bowl in the  
center of the table. He prepared to serve Nodoka an extra portion. "Here  
you go Nodoka..."  
  
Kenshin was not able to finish his sentence, as his face  
suddenly became imbedded in his own bowl of Miso.  
  
"How can you refer to your mother in such an impolite manner  
Kenshin?" Kaoru paused staring daggers at Kenshin for a moment before  
closing her eyes briefly, and then looking back over at Nodoka. She  
quickly ladled out another bowl of soup. "Here you go Saotome-san"  
  
"Oh what a polite young lady... If your father were still alive,  
I would insist in arranging a marriage immediately."  
  
Kenshin fell over, his eyes swirling as his mind took a vacation  
from the horror that had become his life...  
  
"Oro..."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
Authors note: Well, thats another chapter done with. Wed like to  
thank all of you whove read our fic so far, but we have a slight  
  
request. Would you kindly send us a few comments?..... Please? Wed  
really appreciate it. It might take us a bit longer to get chapter 4  
out, as there are some details that we really need to go over in the  
plot.... Not that its taken all that long to finish the first three, has  
it? Anyway, once we hit chapter 5, well start posting chapters for "A  
Child of Murder," the Bakumatsu story line in our little Kenshin/Ranma  
universe. It should answer some questions that could crop up after  
reading our story so far. Once again, thanks for reading our fic! We'd  
really like to hear what you think, though....  
  
Please send C&C to both silverchocobo@usa.net and  
richard.o.sienkewicz@lawrence.edu  
  
This fic can be found at:  
http://www.geocities.com/beigechocobo  
http://www.crosswinds.net/~salee/index.html  
  
Flames will be used in an attempt to destroy the Meiji  
government, by burning down Kyoto.  
  
P.S. If no C&C is received, we will use our endless supply of  
"Monsters of the Day" to hunt you down and interrogate you..... Wait,  
what are you doing here?!?!?! Ack! No! Not the gigantic pink heart!  
dodge HELP! Were being attacked by under-dressed schoolgirls!!! Mommy!  
splatter  
  
P.P.S. The editors of this fic must take it as their sad duty to  
inform you that the authors are slightly dead. They were killed for  
being too, well, evil. Oh, and they had an ongoing plot to take over the  
world. Odd how that always seems to happen to people with plans for  
world domination.....  



	4. An Engagement With Zanza

  
Disclaimer: We don't own any of the Ruroni Kenshin or Ranma  
characters contained herein. They just wandered into the text  
all on their own.  
  
A Devoted Son  
  
By Insane Chocobo Productions (Beige and Silver)  
  
What has gone before: Nodoka Saotome wandered into Tokyo looking  
for her son, Ranma. All she knew was that he had fought in the Bakumatsu  
as the Battousai, and that he practiced the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. She  
sees Kenshin defeat the Hiruma brothers, and decides that he is her son.  
The night before she goes to the Kamiya dojo, though, a group of thieves  
attempt to mug her. She is saved by officer Saotome Ranma (her real  
son), who confiscates her katana (which was the cause of the mugging).  
He tells her that she can pick it up at the police station after she has  
found her son.  
  
Kenshin was pickpocketed by (and then rescues) one Tendo Akane,  
who he enlists Kaoru to teach swordsmanship to. Ranma and Saito show up  
after Kenshin leaves and arrest the Yakuza.  
  
Nodoka drags Kenshin off to retrieve her sword. On the way, they  
come across a group of police swordsman who are about to execute some  
innocent civilians. Kenshin fights them, and defeats them. Saito and  
Ranma watch the fight, and critique Kenshin's performance. Nodoka  
retrieves her katana, presents it to Kenshin, and then manages to  
convince Kaoru that she really IS Kenshins mother.  
  
  
Part 4: An Engagement With Zanza  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
Kaoru was in a good mood today. She had found one of her  
Grandfather's paintings, and it had provided enough money for the dojo  
to stay in operation for the next couple months. That was even without  
any paying students! Nodoka had yet to try to talk to her about how  
manly Kenshin was. And, best of all, she hadn't had to start Akane's  
lessons yet today!  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a girl's voice  
shouting. At first she found it somewhat difficult to tell what she was  
shouting about, but as she grew closer she saw a sign placed in front of  
a building that had long been abandoned. Standing in front of the  
building was the girl, who was still shouting at passersby, though now  
her shouting at them had taken on a bit more of a threatening tone. The  
sign in front read "Nekohanten" and the girl's continued shouts told her  
that it was a restaurant, that this was the grand opening, and that food  
was at a discount today.  
  
"I think we should try eating here for a change, don't you  
Kenshin?" She turned around to glare at Kenshin when he didn't  
immediately respond. Her glare fell apart as she noticed that Nodoka  
and Kenshin were far behind her, Nodoka had apparently been distracted  
by something at one of the shops along the street.  
  
"Who are you trying to fool? You just want to eat here because  
it'll be cheaper." Kaoru ignored Akane's statement and ran to fetch  
Kenshin and Nodoka who had stopped to look at some wood cuts.  
  
Nodoka was currently sifting through the piles looking for one  
of Kenshin, while Kenshin tried to explain to her that his work during  
the war wasn't exactly something to be celebrated, and the man working  
the stand tried to explain that woodcuts of nobodies didn't sell.  
  
This of course enraged Nodoka, who now wished that she hadn't  
given up her sword.... Slashing through the woodcuts would have been so  
therapeutic.  
  
Kaoru approached nervously, talking to an enraged Nodoka wasn't  
exactly her favorite thing in the world.  
  
"Um... Saotome-san, its time for us to go and eat..." She said  
nervously, not knowing how Nodoka would react. Nodoka's head perked up  
at Kaoru's sudden arrival. Before Kaoru or Kenshin knew what was going  
on, she had grabbed hold of Kenshin's hair and was dragging him towards  
the Nekohanten.  
  
"Come on son, this is not the time to look for pictures of  
yourself... Its time to eat!"  
  
"Oro..." Kenshin groaned as he was dragged towards the door of  
the new restaurant.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
The girl who had been standing outside to draw attention led  
Kaoru and her companions inside to a small table. She prepared the area  
for the four people then hurried off to the back to fetch the  
appetizers.  
  
"Tsu Hsi! I thought you said there aren't any warrior women in  
Japan?" Her mother turned her attention from the food to the girl, who  
had just rushed into the kitchen.  
  
"Why do you say that Khu Lon?" She responded boredly, turning  
her attention back to the food.  
  
"A woman carrying a sword just came in! She must be very  
skilled to carry one around in public with the odd laws that they have  
in this country!" Tsu Hsi walked away from the food for a moment to  
glance at where her daughter was pointing...  
  
Her mouth fell as far as was physically possible. True, the man  
WAS less than she would have expected for a sword-master, but she  
couldn't see how her daughter had managed to make that mistake.  
  
"Um... Daughter, that is a man."  
  
Khu Lon's eyes widened. "Really? Not much of one." Kho Lon  
grabbed the tray with the drinks and appetizers and hurried back to the  
table to take their order.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Back at the table, Nodoka was frustrated; she had tried to tell  
Kaoru and Kenshin about how good they were together and how she wished  
them to be wed as soon as possible, but the two men sitting across the  
aisle from them were so noisy that it was impossible.  
  
The men in question were nothing all that remarkable. They  
seemed to be dressed in an odd sort of uniform: Dragon-embroidered  
Chinese-style shirts and pants. The outfits differed only in their  
color. One man, who had long dark brown hair, wore a shirt that was a  
light gray almost to the point of being silver. His companion had messy  
black hair, and wore a shirt that was dyed an indistinct shade of brown.  
  
"NO! I ABSOLUTELY REJECT THAT IDEA!" Screamed the man with the  
long hair and gray shirt. "It makes no sense, has no plot, and it's been  
done a million times!"  
  
"Oh? Then what do you propose we do next?" Responded the other  
man, unenthusiasticly.  
  
"Since you asked... We have a slightly schizophrenic swordsman  
played an important role in the revolution wandering around Japan until  
he encounters a situation that all his training couldn't possibly  
prepare him for!"  
  
"And that would be?" The black-haired man seemed to be almost  
falling asleep at this point.  
  
"Simple! We have his father have engaged him multiple times to  
lots of girls with odd quirks, but that he doesn't really love, and have  
the girl that he does love not be engaged to him and somewhat violently  
opposed to the idea." At this the other man perked up, the sleeve of  
his light brown shirt sliding down his arm as he now pounded his fist  
against the table.  
  
"Are you kidding?! I can't believe you're proposing that kind  
of a matchup again! Nobody wants to read that shit! Anyway who  
believes that anyone would engage their son to lots of different girls,  
it doesn't make any sense! You'd have to be stoned out of your mind to  
think of that..." He glanced down at his now empty glass of sake "Oh  
yeah," he groaned out in embarrasment.  
  
"Ok then what do you propose, Mr. Sober?" Spat the one in the  
grey.  
  
"Alright, there's this really powerful dragon, but he's kind of  
young and..."  
  
"ENOUGH with the dragons already! I'm SICK AND TIRED of this  
stupid dragon fetish you've got.... Its unhealthy! We need to get back  
to the important stuff that we got good feedback about!"  
  
"And that would be?" Questioned the man in the light brown, as  
he looked around for a waitress to refill his glass.  
  
"This beautiful red haired woman whos a skilled doctor had a  
husband and child twenty years ago, but they both disappeared and she  
hasn't seen them since. She thinks they're both dead and goes on with  
her life till her husband turns up one day as a policeman or something  
like that. "  
  
"THAT HAS GOT TO BE THE DUMBEST IDEA YET!" Screamed the black  
haired one.  
  
"WOULD YOU TWO DRUNKS SHUT UP!" Screamed Akane, thoroughly fed  
up with the two men sitting across from them. She realized that she  
had just screamed at the top of her lungs, and was now standing up.  
Nodoka grabbed hold of the back of Akane's clothes and pulled her back  
to her seat.  
  
Khu Lon suddenly appeared next to the table of the two drunks.  
She whispered something to them and they quieted down quickly. She  
then turned around to face the table at which the one she now knew to be  
a man sat.  
  
"The same goes for your party as well, if there is another  
outburst like that I'll have to ask you to leave." Akane nodded, her  
cheeks turning red from embarrassment at having shouted at them... Then  
she realized that maybe she shouldn't have shouted at them to quiet  
down.  
  
Nodoka started talking. "You know sitting here with all of you  
makes me think I finally have the family I've always longed for... A  
devoted son..."  
  
Kenshin smiled nervously, and attempted to hide himself in his  
teacup..... He was rather unsuccessful.  
  
"A beautiful daughter..."  
  
Kaoru blushed and tried to interrupt. "But Kenshin and I aren't  
even enga..."  
  
This didn't even phase Nodoka, who had already continued on with  
her monologue.  
  
"And a rambunctious grand-daughter!" She finished taking a sip  
of the tea that had been set before her. Everyone at the table sat  
still for a moment, letting Nodoka's words sink in. Akane was the first  
to respond.  
  
"THAT TANOOKI ISN'T MY MOTHER!!!"  
  
It was then the bottle impacted against the back of Kenshin's  
head. His face fell to the table, and the empty clay bottle that had  
previously been holding sake at the table across from them fell to the  
floor with a thud.  
  
"IF YOU DON'T MIND WE'RE HAVING A CONVERSATION!" Shouted the  
man with the black hair. Again, Khu Lon rushed towards the front to  
deal with the two men who had now stood up.  
  
"I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave!" She said as calmly  
as she could, but the one with black hair hit her with the back of his  
hand. Khu Lon hadn't expected the blow to be so hard and she was sent  
reeling backwards... into the hands of a man wearing a white shirt.  
  
"The lady asked you to leave, I suggest that you do so before I  
have to hurt you."  
  
"So you want to fight us?" Said the one in the grey shirt,  
grinning. He went into a fair approximation of a battle stance, the man  
in the white shirt just walked by, pushing the man with in the grey  
shirt back.  
  
"If you want to fight, let's go outside." Said the stranger in  
the white shirt, walking out the door. The two men followed, and soon  
after so did Kenshin, Kaoru, and Akane, leaving Nodoka to enjoy the rest  
of her drink.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
All eyes were concentrated on the two fighters standing in front  
of the Nekohanten. The black haired man had volunteered to fight the man  
in the white shirt first, and had moved out into the middle of the  
street to face him.  
  
They stood some five paces apart staring each other down,  
neither one taking even a moment to blink. A gust of wind blew past,  
kicking up dust in between them from some where a tumbleweed blew by.  
(now how did that get there?)  
  
"Tell you what, just to make it interesting... I'll let you hit  
me first," the mysterious man in white suddenly said. He pointed to his  
chin. "Give me your best shot right here."  
  
The other man chuckled, pulling his fist back preparing to rush  
forward to deliver the hardest punch he could. "All right, you asked for  
it!" He shouted as he suddenly burst forward, sending the full force of  
his speed, weight and fist into the chin of the other fighter, there was  
a sickening crack as bone snapped from the force of the blow.  
  
"Gaah!!! My hand! Its broken!" Screamed the black haired  
drunk in agony. Off to the side, the one dressed in grey reached to his  
side, as if he was trying to draw a sword. His hand came up empty.  
  
"Excuse me sir, were you looking for this?"  
  
A voice sounded behind him. He turned around nervously to face  
the police officer with a pigtail, who had somehow gotten right behind  
him without his noticing. The officer was also holding what looked like  
a round, wooden walking stick. The stick also had a suspicious-looking  
horizontal crack in it near the top. It was at just about the right spot  
for the top part of the cane to be a sword hilt.  
  
The police officer raised an eyebrow at the man. "This wouldn't  
happen to be a cane sword, would it? And you weren't about to draw it,  
were you?"  
  
"Uh... hehe, nononononononono!! Its just a walking stick, that  
it is! Not a sword at all! I just carry it around for my bad leg, that  
I do... Hehe..."  
  
The officer smiled, and turned his back to the drunk.  
  
"Just don't let it happen again."  
  
The brown haired drunk took his "cane" back, laughed nervously  
while scratching the back of his head with one hand, tossed a smallish  
bag of coins at Tsu Hsi, and then grabbed the other man's hand and  
dragged him off down the street.  
  
Everyone present winced as a cry of, "OUCH!!!! MY HAND!" floated  
back to them from some distance away.  
  
The man in the white shirt chuckled and shook his head, tossed  
some more coins at Tsu Hsi (who was getting rather tired of people just  
flinging money her way) and walked off on his own.  
  
As he left, Akane noticed the kanji printed on the back of his  
shirt. She then whispered to Kaoru, "Why would a fighter like him have  
'reject' printed on the back of his shirt?"  
  
Kaoru's response was cut off when the police officer spoke again.  
  
"Well, Tsu Hsi-san, I think she handled that rather well, dont  
you? If you dont mind, I would like to step in for something to eat.  
Only, would you kindly do me a favor? No marriage challenges today,  
please?"  
  
Tsu Hsi sighed. "As you wish.... Follow me. I'll show you to  
your table, officer.... But I'm not getting any younger, you know."  
  
Akane once again turned to Kaoru and spoke. "Just who was that  
crazy guy, and how could he mistake the guy in the white shirt for a  
woman?" She paused for a moment, thinking, and then shouted, "AND WHAT  
KIND OF A WOMAN'S NAME IS 'SUSHI,' ANYWAY?"  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Two men walked down the street near the outskirts of Tokyo, they  
walked quickly and didn't talk, most of their concentration going  
towards avoiding the light of the gas lights on the corners, and the  
eyes of the police officers that they passed occasionally. After quite  
some time, they finally arrived at their destination, a run down  
restaurant at the edge of town. Part of the roof had collapsed and the  
sign had faded till it was no longer legible. The taller of the two men  
regarded the building with unease.  
  
"Can a guy able to defeat the Battousai really be found in this  
rundown place, Kiheh?" The smaller man didn't turn his attention from  
walking towards the door of the building for even a moment.  
  
"No... But Zanza should be able to at least provide us with an  
opportunity to take revenge for our defeat." He tried to push the door  
aside but it fell over sending dust flying off to both sides.  
  
The taller man shook his head and ducked to walk through the  
door. From a room down the hall with an open door there was a faint  
light, they entered the room and were greeted with Zanza sitting on a  
well worn tatami mat eating by the light of a lone candle.  
  
"Who are you? If you're here to fight, don't even bother. I  
could beat both of you in a second. I'm not interested in boring  
fights." Said the figure without even looking up.  
  
Kiheh knelt down on the ground several feet away from Zanza,  
pulling out a bag filled with coins that jingled as he opened the top  
dumping a few out.  
  
"I have here 25 gold coins... If you take care of the job I'm  
offering you I'll give you 25 more." He put the coins back in the bag  
and slid it across the floor to right in front of Zanza's feet.  
  
"Don't talk to me like I'm a killer for hire. You'll pay me  
after I fight. I just want to have a good time, if I don't... You  
better have a lot more than a bag full of coins to give me." He kicked  
the bag back over to Kiheh, the top coming loose spilling coins all over  
the floor of the room. Kiheh frowned, this was not going as well as he  
had hoped.  
  
"I gurantee you'll enjoy this fight Zanza... I want you to  
fight Himura Kenshin, who is staying at the Kamiya Dojo."  
  
"Himura Kenshin? Never heard of the guy. Is he tough?"  
  
"He did this to me!" complained Gohei as he pointed to the  
bandages wrapped around his injured head.  
  
"Moron! You think THAT'S a sign of his strength?" Snapped  
Zanza. He tossed the bowl into the air, hit Gohei with the back of his  
hand, and was back at the mat on the floor fast enough to catch the bowl  
without spilling a drop. Kiheh laughed, shaking his head at the  
stupidity of his brother.  
  
"I'm not surprised, he doesn't exactly run around in public  
telling people who he really is... You see, this Kenshin is really the  
Hitokiri Battosai." Zanza's eyes widened and the bowl full of noodles  
was set aside. Zanza stood, walking to the back wall, and picked up a  
large object wrapped in a dull white sheet.  
  
"In that case, this fight's on me. I have an old score to  
settle with Battousai." He turned around and walked back to where the  
brothers sat.  
  
"I trust then that you'll take care of this matter?" Kiheh  
asked as he tucked the bag of coins back into his coat. Zanza walked by  
him eyeing him suspiciously.  
  
"One more thing, if I take on this fight..."  
  
"Oh? What's that?" Kiheh was a little troubled by the tone that  
Zanza had taken. Before he had time to react, Zanza had grabbed his  
shirt and thrown him against the back wall of the abandoned restaurant.  
His coat fell open revealing not only the bag of money hidden inside,  
but also the two pistols that he had concealed inside.  
  
"THERE WILL BE NO INTERFERENCE FROM YOU!" Screamed Zanza as he  
grabbed the guns from Kiheh and proceded to smash them. Zanza then  
turned and calmly walked out the door.  
  
"Remember, Hiruma, no interference." Kiheh and Gohei stayed in  
the restaurant for a moment. Now that they had actually gotten the  
fighter they had wanted, they were no longer sure if it had been a good  
idea.  
  
"Kiheh..." Gohei began before he had to stop to think.  
  
"What is it?" Groaned Kiheh from the floor where he had  
collapsed.  
  
"When did he learn our names?"  
  
*** *** ***  
  
"Kenshin! Kenshin!!! Where are you, my son?" Called Nodoka as  
she walked through the Dojo looking for her son with a letter that had  
come in the mail. She walked past the furo, opening the door to look in,  
but finding no one, she walked into the yard to the laundry, but finding  
no one, she walked into the dojo, but found no one.  
  
"Where is Kenshin? He isn't trying to spy on Kaoru in the bath,  
he isn't trying to steal her underwear and he definately isn't  
practicing... What on earth could my son be doing?"  
  
At that moment her very manly son walked through the gates of  
the Dojo with Kaoru and Akane in tow, he was carrying a bag full of Rice  
that Kaoru had apparently won in a raffle several days before and had  
just neglected to pick up till today. As they walked into the yard of  
the Dojo Nodoka greeted Kenshin with a hug.  
  
"Kenshin dear I'm glad I found you... This came for you in the  
mail, it looks rather important." Kenshin took the letter from his  
mother with some unease. He hoped it wasn't her trying to get a  
marriage license again without either his or Kaoru's permission again.  
  
He tore it open, revealing the carefully written words inside...  
They were written in blood.  
  
"Himura Kenshin the Battosai, at last the dishonour that I  
suffered at your hands will be corrected. I will arrive at noon, be  
ready to fight. Zanza" Kenshin let the letter fall from his hands. The  
cold look of the hitokiri coming into his eyes.  
  
"What is it Kenshin? What did you get?" Asked Kaoru, slightly  
disturbed by the look that had come into Kenshin's eyes. She bent down  
and picked the note off the ground. When she read it she gasped in  
shock.  
  
"Kaoru-dono, might you take Nodoka and Akane out to eat  
somewhere today? I have something to take care of that I do." Kaoru  
relaxed as she heard the ruruoni in Kenshins voice and saw the look of  
the hitokiri fading from his face as he looked at her.  
  
"Yes, I think that would be for the best."  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Zanza walked up to the door of the dojo and stopped, the bundle  
wouldn't fit through the door easily unless it was turned to the side,  
and in the cramped streets of Tokyo there really wasn't room for that.  
The only other solution was to call Kenshin out.  
  
"HIMURA KENSHIN! I ZANZA AM HERE TO FIGHT AGAINST YOU! I AM  
ALSO HERE TO RIGHT A WRONG THAT YOUR FAMILY DID TO ME MANY YEARS AGO!  
SURELY YOU REMEMBER..."  
  
Kenshin stepped through the doors of the dojo. Walking towards  
the fighter standing right outside the door.  
  
"I remember, you are here just as you said you would be..."  
The look in his eyes was the look that he had so many years ago in  
Kyoto. "This place is not good for a battle... Why don't we go to a  
more suitable location, like down by the river."  
  
Zanza nodded. "Yeah. I was thinking the same thing myself; not  
enough room for a good fight right here." Zanza flipped the giant  
bundle overhead and caught it behind his head. Then turned to walk  
towards the river. Kenshin followed a few steps behind. Out of sight  
the Hiruma brothers were wondering what was going on, and silently  
cursing the fact that all of their guns had been destroyed.  
  
When Kenshin passed the Nekohanten, he couldn't help but notice  
the line that had formed in front of it. As he continued to glance at  
the line he noticed Akane, Nodoka and Kaoru standing about two-thirds of  
the way back. He then noticed that Akane was watching what was going on  
and tried to hide his face from her view. Unfortunately, when you're the  
only one in the area who both carries a sword and has red hair, it's a  
little hard to not be recognized.  
  
"Hey Kenshin!" Akane yelled as she ran out of the line to  
follow him. She started to walk right next to him. "Who is this guy  
Kenshin? Is that a spear? I hear it takes tons more strength to fight  
with a spear."  
  
Zanza chuckled, and spoke in a bemused tone. "Its not a spear...  
Something much better, in fact." As he said this, he turned around.  
Kenshin ducked quickly to avoid the bundle, which narrowly passed over  
Akanes head. The two men who were following close behind them did not  
move quite as quickly, and were knocked into a nearby wall; embedded in  
it by the sheer force of the blow. Akane stared in awe at the man  
walking ahead of Kenshin. What could it be in the bundle?  
  
Kaoru and Nodoka hadn't noticed that Akane had disappeared at  
first, but by the time that they did, Kenshin, Akane, and Zanza were far  
enough down the road that to catch up to them they had to run.  
  
From their place in the wall, Kiheh and Gohei groaned.  
  
"Kiheh, I think that maybe we should concentrate on our casino  
from now on, and forget about Battousai. This is getting MUCH too  
painful."  
  
Kiheh fell back from the wall, his body completely limp. "I have  
to agree."  
  
*** *** ***  
  
When they reached the spot at the river for the fight, Zanza  
dropped the bundle to the ground. A large amount of dirt was kicked into  
the air by the force of the impact.  
  
"I don't believe we've been properly introduced yet," began the  
man. "I'm called Zanza, because I use this!" He tore open the bundle  
and picked up the large object from inside of it. Kenshin was shocked,  
he had heard stories of this sword, but he had never actually seen it.  
  
"The Zanbattou: a relic from days past. The largest sword ever  
made. No one was ever able to use it though... Until me, that is."  
Zanza hefted the giant sword, easily holding it at a seemingly  
impossible angle.  
  
"I, Himura Kenshin, will be fighting with this reverse bladed  
sword." Kenshin calmly went into a stance that would hopefully allow  
him to quickly attack before the giant sword could be swung.  
  
As soon as Kenshin finished talking, though, Zanza rushed  
forward, the Zanbato in the air. Before Kaoru Nodoka or Akane knew what  
was happening, the blade passed through the spot where Kenshin had been  
standing. They were surprised though that the blade hadn't hit  
something.  
  
Akane was the first to notice. Kenshin had dodged the blow, was  
now high in the air, falling towards Zanza. His sword flashed almost  
faster than the eye could follow. Zanza dodged to the side, hoping to  
avoid the attack. He avoided getting hit by the blow, but was not,  
however, entirely successful. His shirt caught on the side of the  
sakabattou and was pulled across the blade, shredding it up the middle.  
  
Kenshin landed, skidding to a halt from his attack. He knew that  
the Sakaba hadn't actually touched Zanza, in fact not many had ever been  
so successful at evading a Ryu Tsui Sen. Zanza was lucky to come out of  
the strike with only a torn shirt for his pains.  
  
Zanza quickly turned around. It was at that moment that the  
last few threads chose to break open. Zanza stood, shocked, the giant  
sword dropping to the ground.  
  
The shirt fluttered open slowly, exposing Zanzas chest to all  
who cared to look..... The chest that was revealed was most definitely  
not the chest of a man.  
  
Kenshin's eyes bulged in shock at the sight before him...  
  
Zanza was a woman... And what a woman.  
  
Kenshin felt a bit of blood running down his nose, he tried to  
wipe it away before anyone (especially Zanza) noticed. Unfortunately,  
it was too late. Zanza had noticed the trace of red on his face.  
  
Her face turned red and an expression of rage came across her  
features, which, now that Kenshin thought about it, were quite feminine.  
He wondered how he could have ever mistaken her for a man.  
  
Kenshin's thoughts were rudely interrupted by the impact of a  
fist with his head. Zanza had run forward, all thoughts of modesty  
forgotten, and punched him in the face. Kenshin stood still for a moment  
and then fell down on his back.  
  
He lay on the ground for a minute, while Zanza was re-securing  
the front of her shirt as best as she could, but the chest bindings that  
she had worn were a complete loss. Kenshin's eyes had a strange swirling  
pattern in them, and as he slipped into unconsciousness a single emerged  
from his lips.  
  
"Kawaii..."  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Kenshin came back to consciousness slowly, his mind still  
refusing to accept the last information that he had received. He had  
not only just been beaten by a woman, but a woman who had mastered the  
use of a weapon that no man had ever been able to use.  
  
The darkness slowly cleared from his mind. He became aware of  
the sound of women's voices raised in anger. He really wished that he  
hadn't regained consciousness, and tried to see if he could somehow  
knock himself out again without moving. When he realized that he  
couldn't quite manage such a feat, he decided to just pretend to be  
unconscious for as long as he could. Unfortunately the women who were  
now arguing just wouldn't let him rest in peace.  
  
"Why were you dressed as a man, anyway! What kind of girl runs  
around fighting men for money?"  
  
"Hey! I do what I can to survive! It's not easy, you know, when  
your parents engage you to the son of some hired sword, only to get  
killed by the man he had claimed to be engaging you to!"  
  
"I must agree with Kaoru-dono," said Nodoka, as she calmly  
placed another cool wet rag on Kenshin's forhead. "Fighting just isn't  
ladylike! What man would marry a girl who could beat him to a bloody  
pulp? Oh but then my son was so manly risking peeping on a woman as  
powerful as her when he was in plain sight..." Kaoru and Ukyo tried to  
avoid listening to her and continued with their argument.  
  
"Besides that you tried to kill Kenshin! What makes you think  
you can just waltz in here and watch over him! I don't trust you! Not  
in the least! If you try anything I guarantee that you'll regret it!"  
  
"I had every right to try to kill him! He was the living symbol  
of my dishonour!"  
  
"What do you mean 'was?'"  
  
Kenshin was truly confused by the comments being made by Zanza.  
What had she meant that he had dishonored her? He decided that he  
couldn't stay unconscious any longer. He opened his eyes to the sight  
of three women watching over him. Nodoka was sitting above his head,  
and was currently humming a tune to herself, her hand placed on his  
forehead, to either side of him were Kaoru, and Zanza, staring daggers at  
each other.  
  
"Um... excuse me, what dishonor would that be? I've never met  
you before that I haven't..." Kenshin said, a very noticable trace of  
fear for his life at being stuck between three not quite sane women.  
  
All eyes turned down to face Kenshin.  
  
Zanza looked confused, but then a look of realization crossed  
her face.  
  
"Oh yeah. I never introduced myself, did I? I knew I forgot  
something! Anyway... When I was five a man was hired as a bodyguard  
for my parents, who were moderate officials in Kyoto at the time. He  
made an arrangement for me to marry his son. That man was named  
Saotome Genma... And the description he gave for his son matches yours  
exactly."  
  
Nodoka's face looked suddenly very happy. Kaoru's face was  
confused, and Kenshin's face had a look of total dread on it.  
  
"I'm Kounji Ukyo, your cute fiancee!" She latched onto him, her  
arms wrapping around him and pulling him into her tight embrace, the  
feel of her body against his left no doubt in Kenshin's mind as to just  
how feminine she was.  
  
Kaoru's face was ashen, she grimmaced as she tried to hold back  
tears. Nodoka's face had a look of intense irrational joy, and Kenshin  
had only one possible reaction to the last realization.  
  
"Oro..."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
Authors Note:  
  
Yeah, we know. The longest conversation in this part was a self  
insert joke, but hey it was a laugh, right? dodges a barrage of rotten  
fruit OK, so it wasnt quite THAT funny.  
  
This part is the longest part yet... It also happens to be the  
part that took the longest to write (more than one would think for  
something like this). As usual the standard disclaimers apply... if  
you liked this you must be nuts.  
  
From this point we will be diverging (even more) from the cannon  
Kenshin story line...... Not that its exactly intact at the moment  
anyway, but well be moving on and using our own plot-lines. (for the  
most part, anyway)  
  
A slight side note from Silver:  
  
"This is IMHO the worst part yet... but then I think I've  
thought that about every part that I've written the first draft for so  
far, and my own opinion is suspect as I'm a manic depressive, Beige  
seems cool with it though so I guess its ok.  
  
PLEASE WE NEED C&C! SILVER IS DEMANDING THE BLOOD OF THE READERS AND  
BEIGE DOESN'T THINK HE CAN CONTROL THE EVIL MUCH LONGER!"  
  
And now a bit of one from Beige:  
  
"Hes quite right about one point, anyway. We need C&C. If we  
dont hear from you, we wont be able to fix the bits that you dont like  
in our writing."  
  
You are begged to send C&C to silverchocobo@usa.net and  
richard.o.sienkewicz@lawrence.edu  
  
Special thanks go to Bambi for doing some proofreading for this section,  
and for offering to post our fic on her site.  
  
Flames will be used to forge ourselves katanas so we can attempt  
to duplicate the cooler moves used in RK........... Its more  
likely that well sever our own limbs in the process, though.  
  
This fic, and previous parts thereof, can be found at:  
http://www.geocities.com/beigechocobo  
http://www.crosswinds.net/~salee/index.html  



	5. A Shadow of the Past

Disclaimer: We don't own any of the Ruroni Kenshin or Ranma characters contained   
herein. Don't sue us. We've coated our houses with lawyer-proof materials (garlic  
and crosses); they won't even be able to approach!  
  
  
A Devoted Son  
  
  
By Insane Chocobo Productions (Beige and Silver)  
  
  
What has gone before: Zanza turned up, and was revealed to be a young woman named   
Kuonji Ukyo. It turns out that durring the Bakumatsu her parents engaged her to   
someone matching the description of Battousai (Kenshin). Nodoka is delighted that   
her "son" is so manly.  
  
Part 5: A Shadow of the past   
  
"I'm so glad you came with me Kenshin. Who knows what could happen to a   
delicate woman like myself in a city like this. After all, you now have our family  
honor blade instead of me. I would be totally defenseless if I was attacked by   
thieves."  
  
Kenshin sighed quietly and walked along side of his "mother." His life had  
settled into something of a routine lately. Get up.... Attempt to do the morning   
chores and be yelled at for not being "manly...." sulk... attempt to prepare   
lunch..... refuse to teach Akane any of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu.... be dragged   
off to shop with Nodoka.... attempt to make dinner... get yelled at for a third   
time... be shoved out the door with an empty bag and orders to steal women's   
underwear.... sneak back into the dojo to catch some sleep.... If this was what   
normal family life was like, Kenshin thought, he would rather have continued his   
wanderings.  
  
Kenshin looked up at the clouds as Nodoka stopped to inspect yet another   
set of prints depicting famous figures from the Bakumatsu. She seemed to be a bit   
obsessed with finding his picture in the piles. She never found one of him,   
though. There were plenty of his former master, Katsura Kogoro (and even one or   
two of both Katsura's consort and daughter), but not a single one of Kenshin. No   
matter how many times he told her that his work was not publicized, and that not   
many people even knew who he was, much less that he existed, she insisted on   
looking. Kenshin was startled out of his reverie when a raindrop landed on his   
face. He should have known. Of COURSE it would rain on him... It always seemed to.  
Ah well... It never hurt him before, and it probably wouldn't now. Kenshin looked  
out at the crowd of people scurrying about in an attempt to get out of the rain   
before it started falling too hard.  
  
Just as it started to rain harder, Kenshin caught a glimpse of someone   
with bright red hair. The person seemed familiar to him and he strained to catch   
a better look, but the rain...  
  
*********  
  
...fell down in torrents around him, but it did nothing to help. He was   
stained; stained so badly by the blood of those who he killed that it would never   
go away. But he was killing to make Japan a better place for the people! Surely   
that was right! Never again, he swore! After this was all over he would never kill  
again!  
  
Red..... Blood-red. That was all he could see in his dreams lately. It   
never left him. The face he once knew..... a face that had once been white as   
snow. No longer.  
  
Would it never leave him? This image of blood? This terrible guilt? How   
much longer would he be reminded of his failure? Red... How he hated that color...  
Loved that color... Could not do without it... The color of blood... The color of   
sakura pettles... The color of...  
  
*********  
  
Kenshin's hair was nearly pulled out by its roots when Nodoka grabbed him   
by the ponytail and started walking quickly down the soaked street. The rain-  
shower hadn't lasted long, but it had been heavy. Most people who were walking   
down the street had ducked into nearby shops or buildings to escape it. Those who   
didn't have umbrellas with them, anyway.  
  
"Honestly, son! I don't see how you can just space out like that all the   
time! I don't think anyone would disagree with me that it's not very manly to   
stand around blocking honest people's traffic on the road! I don't see why you   
don't just marry Ukyo-chan and move off to the Saotome family lands in Satsuma!   
Why, if I had my way..."  
  
Kenshin tuned out Nodoka's rambling after the first few sentences... Who   
was it that he had seen? Why did that person bring such memories to the surface?   
He thought that he had finally put those ghosts to rest some time ago. Why were   
they reappearing now?  
  
He looked around him desperately for some sign of the person who he had   
seen, but saw noone. Whoever, it was, they were gone now. There was no use   
worrying about it. After all, he had to start walking on his own, or Nodoka would  
probably pull his hair all of the way out.  
  
*********  
  
At a nearby Western-style outdoor cafe, (complete with awning to keep its   
customers from getting wet when it rained), two men in police uniforms sat at a   
table near the edge. One man, who was currently smoking a cigarette, chuckled and   
smirked at the other, slightly damp pig-tailed man, who was holding a newspaper up  
in order to shield his face from the passing crowds.  
  
"That was rather close, wouldn't you agree, Saotome?"  
  
The other man frowned and shook his newspaper. "Shut up, Hajime."  
  
Saito took another puff from his cigarette and then blew the smoke at his   
partner. "I mean, what would have happened if I hadn't been here eating when it   
started raining."  
  
Ranma's hands tightened into fists, crumpling the newspaper slightly.   
"Shut up, Hajime."  
  
"You would have been stuck out in the rain, wouldn't you?"  
  
The knuckles of Ranma's hands became white, as he tightened his grip on   
the much-abused newspaper. "Shut UP, Hajime!"  
  
Saito continued on as if he hadn't heard any of the protests. "It just   
wouldn't do to have you soaked to the bone in front of Himura and his 'mother,'   
would it, Saotome?"  
  
The newspaper was now fast losing any resemblance it once had to crisp,   
flat, pieces of paper, as it was currently being crushed into a ball. "Do your   
ears even work, Hajime? I told you to SHUT UP!"  
  
Saito smirked, and continued on. "An incident like that would have   
completely ruined your image. I mean, getting yourself soaked like that..."  
  
Saito's speech was cut off when the, now quite spherical, newspaper   
impacted with his face.  
  
"SHUT UP, HAJIME!" Ranma got up and began to stalk away.  
  
Saito called after him. "You owe me for that cup of tea, Saotome!" As the   
pig-tailed man walked away, Saito chuckled to himself. He could almost pity any   
criminals that Ranma ran into while he was in this mood..... almost.  
  
*********  
  
Kenshin and Nodoka walked up to the dojo gates. Nodoka had finally let go   
of his hair some time back, and allowed him to walk on his own. She had not,   
however, stopped lecturing him. Kenshin walked next to her with a decidedly glazed  
look in his eyes. What had he done to deserve this? Oh wait... That... And that   
as well... OK, so he did deserve this, but hadn't he been trying to atone for his  
actions? Didn't that count for something?  
  
"... And then I'll have beautiful, innocent granchildren. Each an heir to   
the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu! Ahh... finally we're home. Time to change for a new set   
of dry clothes. You should change your clothes too, Kenshin, before you catch a   
cold."  
  
"Yes, mother..." Kenshin sat down on the front steps of the Kamiya Dojo,   
sulking. He was now (about) 28 years old, and here his 'mother' was speaking to   
him as if he were a child. Finally, he was now left to his own thoughts. Or so   
he hoped...  
  
"Kenshin, you're back! Finally!" exclaimed Akane, "What took you so long?   
I was waiting for you to return so you could teach me that Hiten Mitsurugi   
stuff. The old hag keeps going on about how I should go with her to get some   
rice and then train with her. I'm TIRED of all this nonsense about the 'Sword   
that Protects Life!!' I want to learn a REAL sword style!"  
  
A bokken was swung down from behind Akane and smacked her on the head.   
"Why you little brat! You should be thankful that I'm teaching you!" retorted   
Kaoru from behind. "Who's paying for what you eat? Who's house are you sleeping   
in? Aren't I right, Kenshin?" She turned to her other housemate, not yet   
realizing that much of what she just said to Akane applied to him as well.  
  
"Orrrooooo......"  
  
"What's wrong, old hag?" taunted Akane, "Can't you defend yourself? Do you  
need someone else to back you up?"  
  
Kenshin could faintly see the scary glow coming from the young assistant   
master of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. The bokken dropped to the ground as she opened   
and closed her hands, as if imagining them around someone's neck. He backed away   
from her slightly them out of fear for his health. After all, there are some   
things that can take out the most experienced fighter... and an enraged woman   
just happened to be one of them.  
  
"I'll show you who needs to be defended!" yelled Kaoru, as she picked up a   
broom that Kenshin had dropped that morning when Nodoka had caught him attempting   
to do housework again. That had earned him another lecture on being 'manly.'   
Currently, the broom was being used for purposes other than housework, as Kaoru   
chased her pupil around the yard, trying to hit her over the head with it.  
  
After one particularly vicious swipe, Kaoru stumbled and the broom went   
flying out of her hands... straight at Kenshin. Kaoru and Akane could only stare   
as Kenshin made no movement to avoid the airborne cleaning instrument and was   
promptly hit on the head. When he fell over, they rushed over to check on him.  
Kaoru's voice betrayed some of her worry. What if he decided to leave her because   
of this? Would he go to that Ukyou woman? What if he wouldn't be willing to go get  
some groceries for her?  
  
"Kenshin, are you alright?... Kenshin!... Kenshin!..."  
  
*********  
  
"Kenshin!"  
  
Kenshin ignored the call and continued staring at the blood on his hand...  
his blood. No one had ever managed to wound him before, but that spiteful young   
bodyguard had done it... and the wound still refused to close.  
  
"Kenshin!..... KENSHIN!"  
  
The man stepped back as Kenshin put a hand on his katana and loosened the   
blade in the sheath.  
  
"What is it, Idzuka?"  
  
Idzuka gulped and stepped back a pace. "Good work on your job yesterday,   
Kenshin. I heard all about it, and it looks to be one of the best ones yet! I hear  
that you barely even gave them a chance to scream.... Although why I wasn't told   
about it is beyond me. Have I offended you in some way, Himura-san? If I have,   
I..."  
  
"Idzuka..."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I haven't been on a job since that bodyguard cut my cheek. That was over   
a week ago. It couldn't have been me... Now go away."  
  
Idzuka stood still for a moment and then shook his head. "No... That can't  
be right. The description of the assassin matched yours to the last detail." He   
thought for a moment, and then stepped forward and clapped Kenshin on the back. "I  
get it! You're trying to be secretive again! I understand, and approve! But I   
still don't understand why you won't let me handle your assignments anymore!"  
  
Kenshin scowled. "Fine. If that's the way you want it, I'll leave,  
myself."  
  
He started to walk quickly away from Idzuka; concentrating not as much on   
where he was going as who he was escaping from. Idzuka watched after his   
retreating figure, only to realize that Kenshin was not watching where he was   
going. "Oi! Kenshin! Look out!"  
  
Unfortunately, Kenshin didn't hear his shout in time and proceeded to run   
into...  
  
*********  
  
The red-haired girl, no, woman who had turned the corner, only to be   
bumped into by Kaoru, fell backwards, as did Kaoru herself. They stared at each   
other for some time before Kaoru got back up and moved to pick up the groceries   
she had left the dojo in order to get. She was a bit surprised to notice that this  
woman was wearing a police officer's jacket. As the red-haired woman moved to help  
her, Kaoru attempted to strike up a conversation.  
  
"I'm really sorry about this."  
  
The woman laughed, and shook her head. "No problem. I seem to meet more   
people this way, Miss..."  
  
"Kamiya Kaoru. By the way, if I may ask, what is your name?"  
  
"Himura Satsuko."  
  
Kaoru's was shocked for a moment, and couldn't speak. However, she quickly  
recovered. "Himura? Are you related to a man named Himura Kenshin?"  
  
Satsuko's eyes took on a stony glint. "The Himura Kenshin I knew died   
thirteen years ago."  
  
"Oh... I'm sorry for bringing up painful memories." Kaoru was puzzled; she  
hadn't ever heard of anyone besides Kenshin with the family name 'Himura,' not   
to mention his personal name. She then noticed something odd about the woman who   
was helping her pick up her groceries. "Excuse me, but, why are you wearing a   
police-officer's jacket? They can't be letting women join..."  
  
"No. Of course it's nothing like that! I got caught out in the rain   
earlier, and a kindly young officer offered me his shirt so I wouldn't catch a   
cold. I can understand you might think it's odd. It was rather embarrassing to be   
in the rain without an umbrella. I don't know why I hadn't grabbed one when I went  
out this morning."  
  
Kaoru shrugged. "That happens to everyone once in a while. You're lucky   
that officer was kind enough to offer you his uniform jacket. Oh... Do you   
practice kendo? I couldn't help but notice the marks from the sword-grip on your   
hand..."  
  
Satsuko looked around nervously, and tugged at the collar of her shirt, as  
if it were too tight. "Err, after a fashion... Sorry for getting in your way,   
Kamiya-san, but I must be going." She then walked off, soon disappearing into   
the crowd.  
  
Kaoru stood in place, thinking to herself for a moment. "I wonder if she's  
any relation to Kenshin... I'll ask him later. Hey, wait a minute; she was wearing  
the full police-officer's uniform!... And what sort of personal name is..."  
  
*********  
  
"Satsuko! Come here!" a beautiful kimono-clad woman yelled at the red-  
haired girl, who had fallen backward, after running into Kenshin. (or vice versa,   
depending on one's point of view)  
  
Satsuko hung her head, got up, and walked over to the woman. "Yes,   
Ikumatsu-san. What is it?"  
  
Ikumatsu frowned at the young girl. "What have I told you about running   
around like that! I know that you've lived most of your life with only your   
father, but he's ordered me to help you behave in a manner more befitting of your  
station. The LEAST you could do would be follow my suggestions!"  
  
Satsuko sighed and bowed. "Yes, Ikumatsu-san. I do not want to disappoint   
my father. I will try to do better in the future."  
  
Ikumatsu smiled. "Good. Now, we should be going. He said that he had   
something he wanted to talk about with you."  
  
As Kenshin watched the two women walk off, Idzuka moved up beside him.  
  
"Himura, you fool, you should watch where you're going. That was Katsura   
Satsuko, Katsura Kogoro's daughter. If you hurt her in any way, battousai or no   
battousai, I'm sure he'd have your head for it. Why, I heard that some men   
propositioned her a couple months ago, and were summarily executed! Trust me,   
Himura, you do NOT want anything wrong to happen to her!"  
  
Kenshin just sat there, staring blankly.  
  
"Hey, Kenshin! Are you listening to me?..."  
  
*********  
  
"...Kenshin!"  
  
Kenshin turned from his contemplation of a pile of laundry (oh, how he'd   
much rather be the one to do it... but Nodoka-san was just so mean!) to address   
his hostess. "Yes, Kaoru-dono?"  
  
"I, err," Kaoru chuckled nervously, "ran into the most interesting person   
today."  
  
Kenshin raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"  
  
"Yeah. There was this really weird red-haired woman who was wearing a   
policeman's uniform."  
  
"The whole uniform?" Kaoru nodded. "That's odd..."  
  
"And that's not all. She had calluses on her hands, as if she practiced a   
lot with a sword or something. That sort of thing, I'm sorry to say, is extremely   
obvious on a woman... I STILL haven't figured out a good way to conceal mine!"  
  
Kenshin could only shake his head as Kaoru started ranting about the   
problems faced by a female kendo practitioner. Ah well, at least she would finish   
soon enough, then he would be able to hear more about this woman; she sounded   
quite intriguing.  
  
Kaoru shook herself for a moment, and stopped talking as quickly. "Oh   
yeah. I think she might be a relative of yours."  
  
"Oh?... Why would you think that?"  
  
"It's her name, and you both have the same family name. Her full name's   
Himura Satsuko. Kind of an odd personal name, isn't it?"  
  
"Satsuko...?" whispered Kenshin, before his eyes rolled back into his   
head, and he collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.  
  
*********  
  
He had almost died, but they had found him... forced him to live.  
  
And the other? They found a body... A body so mutilated as to be   
unrecognizable. So red.... So much blood.... He could never get away from the   
blood.  
  
He wanted to die... to get away from the reminders. He tried to find   
forgetfulness in sake, but could not bring himself to drink much of it. It never   
tasted right... never looked right... always like blood... so much blood...  
  
He had failed so many... failed to protect Kasumi-san, Akane-san, and   
Sakura-san... failed to listen to his master... failed in the charge he had been   
given... failed himself... failed HER!  
  
Must everything in this life end in failure?  
  
He would not fail in this now! No! He could not go back on his word again!  
  
And so he killed... and the blood flowed... red... until, one day, it   
stopped flowing... for him.  
  
But he did not forget, COULD not forget, what had gone before. The   
promises, the failures, the graves... the blood. As much as he tried, he could not  
forget the blood... The red blood, oh so red. He had never seen so much blood.  
  
And still the memories tugged at him... The red blood, the snow stained   
red, the red... hair. Red as the setting sun... Red as the smoldering coals of   
their cook-fires... Red as the phantoms who continuously haunted him... Red as...   
blood.  
  
*********  
  
Kaoru stared at Kenshin. He had woken up from his faint rather quickly,   
only to space out and started muttering to himself. She had to strain to hear, but  
was able to understand, eventually. He just kept repeating the same phrase to   
himself over and over again, seemingly oblivious to the outside world...  
  
"She's alive.... I can't believe it... She's alive."  
  
Authors' note: Well, I guess first off is an apology for the delay. Real life,   
combined with writer's block, combined with plain old procrastination conspired   
to make this chapter much later than it was originally going to be. Ah well, as we  
are fond or saying, stercus fit. ("S*** happens")  
  
It has come to our attention that we've been flipping Saito's personal and family   
names around... oops. A well, since we're so lazy we'll just keep using Saito as   
his first name, and Hajime as his family name. (Is there anyone who DOESN'T think  
of him just as "Saito," anyway?) Either that, or we're using the "Fox Mulder"   
excuse for Saito. (Ya know, Mulder won't even let his own mother call him by his   
first name... because he hates his personal name) Under this interpretation Ranma   
would be calling him 'Hajime' for the sole purpose of ticking him off.  
  
After a bit of research with a kanji dictionary (and a copy of the Rurouni Kenshin  
manga), we also realized that our fic title's pun is wrong... We used the wrong   
translation of Kenshin for our title... The actual kanji for 'kenshin' (in the   
manga) translates as "sword heart," not "devotion..." Oopsie. At least it's   
pronounced the same...  
  
As one of us is leaving for Japan, the rest of the fic (after the next chapter),   
we'll be on hold 'till the end of December. After that, it should go quickly   
enough, as both of us will probably be at least taking a few notes to use when   
we're back on the same continent.  
  
Note from Beige: Yeah yeah yeah, I know, the chapter's a couple months late, and I  
haven't worked on anything else... but I was taking classes and was busy! I AM   
planning on finishing all the fics I've started... it just might take me a while.   
Unfortunately, I'm going to be away from my computer for the next four months,   
(going to Japan... Nya nyah!!!!) and won't have access to my fics. I am, however,   
planning on keeping a notebook of random ideas/character notes, so I shouldn't be   
too terribly behind when I return... if I'm lucky, and don't wind up in a horribly  
tragic plane crash during my travels, anyway...  
  
-Beige  
  
Note from Silver: It is my personal belief that Beige will wind up showing up in  
a anime series (most likely as a villan) after being inserted into it upon his  
arrival in japan. While he is in japan I will be working on the parts of ADS that  
I'm scheduled to work on, along with several of my original projects, and Washuu   
Who, though really I'm not making much progress on part 2 as I've been writing it,  
and am really much more enthusiastic about Requiem now, though I've noticed since   
watching Slayers my vision of this universe has been corrupted by silliness...   
Hopefully with part 6 I will be able to get all the silliness out of my system   
before working on Requiem, but I can't be sure... (I will really be quite amused   
if Beige winds up getting beaten up by school girls.)  
  
-Silver  
  
This fic can be found at:  
  
http://www.geocities.com/chocoroost  
http://www.crosswinds.net/~salee  
  
and whatever archives are up, and we have access to.  
  
Special thanks to: "Bambi Star..." for hosting, prereading, suggesting ideas for   
trouble-scenes, badgering Beige to write -Silver, the list goes on and on... and   
on... and on... Well, actually, no it doesn't, but it was fun to say that.  
  
Please send C&C to:  
  
silverchoco33@icqmail.com  
richard.o.Sienkewicz@lawrence.edu  
beige666chocobo@icqmail.com  
  
Flames will be sent to our good friend Lucifer for use in getting his new internet  
startup off the ground since he sold his previous venture to Bill Gates.  



	6. Wedded Bliss

Disclaimer: Our Lawyers inform us that we don't own these characters, and   
do not know of any occasion on which it would be legal for us to use these   
characters for any sort of money making purpose. They also inform us that   
we can no longer afford their legal fees... In fact, they say that our last   
payment check bounced and that they will now be suing us for the entirety   
of our collective assets, which we estimate at approximately $5.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Kaoru stared at Kenshin; he had woken up from his faint rather   
quickly, only to space out and started muttering to himself. She had to   
strain to hear, but was able to understand... eventually. He just kept   
repeating the same phrase to himself over and over again, seemingly   
oblivious to the outside world...   
  
"She's alive.... I can't believe it... She's alive." Mumbled Kenshin,   
almost inaudibly. He then slipped back into his shocked state, once   
more turning his thoughts away fro the world around him and reliving a happier   
time long past.   
  
Suddenly he was there again... Back at the mountain cabin; his beautiful   
young wife playing with the children from the neighbor's house while he worked   
half-heartedly in the small field, ready to quit his chores and join in the game   
that was going on off to the side.   
  
He smiled as his young wife turned and waved energetically at him.   
"Kenshin! Why don't you stop working and join us?"   
  
He was still reliving this joyful memory when the world suddenly moved   
around violently, bringing him, ever so slowly, back to awareness of his   
surroundings.  
  
"Kenshin, are you awake yet?"  
  
Kenshin smiled at the pleasant memories even as he felt his body being   
rattled like some overenthusiastic child's toy.   
  
"Kenshin!"  
  
That voice... it sounded almost like someone he had known oh so   
long ago.  
  
"Kenshin, snap out of it!"  
  
No, that wasn't right; she was dead! He was supposed to protect   
her, but she had died anyway! He had seen the blood... He had seen the body! It   
was all his fault! He shook himself out of the daze and suddenly became aware of   
a pair of concerned dark-brown eyes not that far away from his own.  
  
"Kenshin... What did you mean by 'she's alive'?"  
  
He blinked and then, ever so quietly, spoke, "Kaoru-dono..." His mind   
started to register exactly what Kaoru had said to him just then... Not all that   
long ago to everyone else, but it felt like an eternity ago to him, for in his   
mind he had relived one of the few times in his life when he had truly been   
happy. It was something so simple, yet complicated to understand... and he still   
could not quit allow himself to believe; Satsuko was alive...  
  
Kaoru backed slowly away from Kenshin. It had scared her seeing him   
slowly become aware of what was going on around him; the mind-numbingly slow   
movement, the length of time it took for him to recognize her, but worst of   
all was the look in his eyes... It was a look of utter sadness and regret,   
as if that which had made up the very fabric of his life had been torn   
to shreds, leaving him with nothing...   
  
Kenshin still did not respond, so Kaoru repeated her question nervously.   
"What did you mean by 'she's alive', Kenshin?"  
  
Kenshin's mouth moved silently for several moments before he   
spoke in the softest of tones, shocking Kaoru to the core.  
  
"Himura Satsuko... is my wife."  
  
*** *** ***  
  
A Devoted Son  
  
By Insane Chocobo Productions (Beige and Silver)  
  
Part 6: Wedded Bliss  
  
*** *** ***  
  
The color drained quickly away from Kaoru's face due to shock. A gasp   
sounded behind her, and Kenshin raised his head briefly, catching a glimpse of   
Ukyo and Akane, who had just entered the room from the Dojo. The expression on   
Ukyo's face quickly went from shock to rage. She pushed Akane to the side, and   
rushed towards Kenshin in fury.  
  
Reacting on pure instinct, without even a shred of conscious thought,   
Kenshin jumped backwards out of the way of the blow. But simply dodging wasn't   
enough to pacify the enraged woman. She rushed forward for a second assault,   
only to be knocked out of the way at the last second by Nodoka, who in her   
blinding bliss at the possibility that Kenshin was married and had provided her   
with grandchildren, knocked Ukyo out of the way.  
  
"Oh my son, I'm so proud of you!" Nodoka wailed, tears of joy flowing   
freely from her eyes as she embraced him. "To have a wife, a concubine, and a   
mistress in this day and age you must be manly indeed!"  
  
Her eyes then took on a different look entirely, changing in an instant   
from joy, to one that would have made even the most fearless man in the world  
cower in terror...  
  
"But what kind of manly man, my son no less, leaves his wife, and   
children... There are children aren't there, Kenshin? Oh how I've so wanted   
grandchildren! It would just break my heart if I found out that you were hiding   
them from me. Unless..."  
  
Kaoru, having gone over to help Akane up from where she had been knocked   
down by Ukyo's furious charge at Kenshin, nudged her slightly and whispered in   
her ear. "If she's going with this, where I think she's going I think you should   
run off and go to bed."   
  
Akane nodded and hurried out the door.  
  
Unfortunately the motion caught Nodoka's attention. She spun around to  
look right at Akane, her face in the most bizarre expression of joy that the   
girl had ever seen.  
  
"Akane! Why didn't you tell me?" Akane's mouth opened as if to scream in  
terror, but then she thought better of it... and ran for her life.  
  
Nodoka would have pursued her out the door, but stopped herself when she  
heard Kaoru speaking behind her.  
  
"She's headed to bed, Nodoka-san. She had a very tough day today."  
  
Nodoka turned around and nodded, her granddaughter definitely needed her  
beauty sleep, that was sure.  
  
All their attention then shifted to Ukyo and Kenshin. She had her face   
mere inches from his, her eyes locked on his. Kaoru saw Kenshin's mouth form   
the words. "I'm sorry."  
  
Ukyo stood up, pushing Kenshin to the floor with all her might. He fell   
back, his head hitting against the hard wooden floor with an audible "thunk",   
rendering him unconscious. His mouth reflexively formed the phrase 'orooooo?!'   
even as the mind that directed its motions fled. The others gasped in shock at   
Ukyo's violent outburst.   
  
"Now daughter that is no way to treat your husband!" Admonished Nodoka,   
rushing to Kenshin's side, to cradle his injured head in her lap.  
  
"I AM NO MARRIED MAN'S CONCUBINE!" Spat Ukyo, disgust and rage apparent on   
her face. She turned, and walked to the wall, her tone taking a much colder   
tone. "I'll have no part of this. But, you can expect me to be back here soon   
with my 'old friend'..." She spat the last words out with a mix of deep-seated   
hatred, and something that almost sounded like regret, before jumping over the   
Dojo wall and disappearing into the night.  
  
"I'm going after her, Nodoka-san... In her state she might do something   
she'll regret later..."  
  
Kaoru grabbed her bokken and hurried out the door of the Dojo, leaving  
Nodoka sitting on the floor with Kenshin's injured head in her lap...  
  
Kenshin was oblivious to the happenings in the outside world, his mind   
still locked in the vision of the happiness he had known so briefly a long time   
ago. In his sleep, he called out to her, his hand reaching out for her's, a   
smile blossoming on his face... but she disappeared before he could reach her   
in time.  
  
"Satsuko..."  
  
Nodoka heard Kenshin talking in his sleep, and how sadly and with what   
longing he had whispered "Satsuko". She laid Kenshin's head down on a pillow and   
then stood up with determination.  
  
"Don't worry, son... I'll find your beloved wife."   
  
The bittersweet smile was still on her face as she walked out the door.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
After leaving the Dojo, Ukyo had run like the wind. She had to hurry so  
the others wouldn't see just how much the news at the dojo had affected  
her, but now, sitting in the run down building that had now been her home  
for longer than she cared to admit, she didn't care anymore. Her long restrained   
emotions were allowed to come to the surface, and she had no intention of ever   
pushing them back down again.  
  
She had failed at everything that she had set out to do in her life.   
When she had been thrown out on the streets she had tried to survive,   
and had failed at that miserably. After that she had passed herself   
off as a boy, and had taken up martial arts so that she could hunt down   
the one responsible for what had happened to her, and when she had finally  
found him, discovered that she couldn't follow through with it.  
  
The words "I'm sorry" came back to her mind. Those were the very words   
that he had said. Did he expect that it would make everything alright again?   
Bring back her life as she once had before he slaughtered her parents in front   
of her eyes?! Were all those years throughout which she had felt alone with no   
one to turn to worth only a mere "I'm sorry"? He had ruinned her life and that   
was all he could say to her?! He was dearly mistaken! Yet... she couldn't bring   
herself to avenge her parents' lives with his death as she had longed to do for   
almost all of her life... For some reason, she still couldn't bring herself to   
hate him.  
  
She still couldn't connect the two in her mind; the young man who had   
killed both her parents and his own father, and the man who she had seen   
laughing and living happily at the Kamiya dojo.  
  
She cursed him. How could he try to get out of what he had done back then   
so easily when he knew the pain he had caused? And she cursed herself... for not   
being able to bring herself to hate him.  
  
She closed her eyes in the darkness, letting the tears come forth as she   
relived the memories of when "her" life had ended and "his" had begun...  
  
*** *** ***  
  
She still remembered that night like it was yesterday... She was working   
on calligraphy with her mother while her father talked with his bodyguard. The   
imperialists had been assassinating many moderates in Kyoto recently and her   
father had decided, due to both his political and philosophical positions, that   
he needed further personal protection. As a result, he had contracted a   
bodyguard who his middleman had assured him was one of the best. She knew that   
she really wasn't supposed to listen into her father's private business, but   
just couldn't seem to help herself. After all, it was *much* more interesting   
than learning the proper stroke order for "ran", the character for civil war.  
  
"You are quite the swordsman, Saotome-san... It was rather impressive   
seeing you deal with those honorless ronin yesterday. You came off without a   
scratch! I still don't see why you are working for me, instead of a larger   
group, like the Shogunate. They would be able to pay you more for your services,   
after all."  
  
"You give me far to much credit than I am worth, Kuonji-dono. It is almost   
imposible to escape any confrontation without at least one or two marks to show   
from it, after all. I just got lucky dealing with those men... no more, no less.   
As for the Shogunate, well, it is a tenant of the school that I practice that we   
not ascribe ourselves to any one side in any conflict. We are only to protect   
those we may to the best of our ability."  
  
"Still, Saotome-san, it is no mean feat dealing with attackers like you   
did. I just wish there was some way for us to insure your services   
permanently..."  
  
"Now that you mention it, Kuonji-dono, I *do* have a son not much older   
than your daughter's age..."  
  
Ukyo stopped listening to the conversation soon after the two men began   
their subtle negotiations. After all, it was more fun to daydream about what her   
husband would be like... If he was the son of a warrior like Saotome-san he must   
be *very* strong! How nice of her father to think about her future safety like   
that! Oh, wouldn't her friends be jealous; she was going to be getting married!  
  
Ukyo was so caught up in her own private fantasy that barely noticed when   
her father and Saotome-san came to an agreement and had the servants bring them   
containers of heated sake. Her mother had long since given up on teaching her   
childish daughter anything that evening and commenced writing in her pillow   
book. Some time later, she never really was able to remember how long, she was   
startled out of her reverie by a sudden burst of noise from outside.  
  
There was a sharp ringing of steel on steel from outside the house,   
closely followed by screams and several ominous thumps. Some of her father's   
guards ran past the entrance of the room where he and Saotome-san sat, towards   
the noises. Shortly thereafter, there was another series of clashes and screams.   
Saotome-san stumbled drunkenly to his feet, and prepared to draw his sword,   
moving to stand in between her father and the door. When a man she did not know   
burst through the door, Ukyo could have sworn that she heard whistles in the   
distance, but her attention was more occupied by what was in front of her than   
faint noises.   
  
The new arrival was young, not much older than she was. He was short for a   
man his age, and had bright-red hair that hung behind him in a ponytail. His   
eyes looked like she imagined those of a dangerous predator would, promising   
death to those who looked into their depths. The cut that ran diagonally down   
his left cheek must have been acquired in a fight recently, as it wasn't   
bleeding at the moment, but hadn't faded away to a scar yet. What held her   
attention the longest though, was the sword that he held down and to his right.   
It caught the light from the lamps in the room and shone in several places;   
those not covered with some thick, red liquid, that could only have been blood,   
shone the brightest.  
  
Her father broke the temporary silence that had fallen over the room and   
spoke in a strong voice that made her proud, "Who are you? Why are you here?"  
  
The man's response consisted of a single word, "Tenchu."(1)  
  
Saotome-san drew his sword unsteadily and settled himself in a stance   
mirroring that of the assassin. Ukyo would never forget the words he spoke next.  
  
"I can't let you do thissshh, boy. I jussshht..." "engaged you to   
this nissshh mansh daughter... Wouldn't do at all if you killssshhh them,   
would't?"  
  
Ukyo's mouth ran dry... Was this Saotome's son? This assassin? Why was he   
here?  
  
Her father moved, as if he was about to speak and air some of the   
questions that were running through Ukyo's mind, but then the assassin moved.  
  
His form seemed to blur as he rushed towards Saotome-san, but then he   
disappeared. Ukyo looked around, trying to figure out where he had gone, when a   
sudden movement from Saotome-san caught her eye. He raised his sword above his   
head, holding it horizontally with his left hand supporting the blade from   
below, tensed his legs and lept.  
  
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu - Ryu Tsui Sen!"  
  
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu - Ryu Shou Sen!"  
  
The two men spoke the names of their attacks at the same time, almost   
speaking as one, and then met in mid-air. The assassin's falling sword was met   
by Saotome-san's rising one and the sound of the two clashing rang out loudly.   
They seemed to hang in the air for an eternal moment, but then Saotome-san's   
right leg shot out, kicking the assassin in the side and sending him flying   
towards the wall to Ukyo's left.  
  
He twisted his body at an almost inhuman speed and re-sheathed his sword,   
before pushing off the wall and shooting back towards Saotome-san, who had, upon   
landing, sheathed his own sword and sprung up to meet the assassin in mid-  
air once more.  
  
"Sou Ryu Sen!"  
  
The assassin left his own attack unnamed, but Saotome-san's voice rang out   
in the night, followed by the clashing of swords, and a thump as his sheath   
impacted strongly against the assassin's side.  
  
How long they continued in this manner, Ukyo did not know. First one of   
them would gain a momentary advantage, and then the other. Her sense of time   
seemed to slow as she watched them clash again and again, neither inflicting a   
serious wound on the other, but both rebounding quickly from any disadvantages   
the flow of battle put them in.   
  
They paused temporarily in their battle, each attempting to catch his   
breath and regain some of his lost strength while surveying his own wounds. The   
assassin had acquired a cut on his cheek running perpendicularly across the one   
that was already there from a passing blow, and Saotome-san had a slightly   
deeper slash on his left shoulder from a time that he had not been quite quick   
enough bringing his own sword up to block his opponent's.  
  
On some unseen signal, the two rushed back to meet each other. The   
assassin attempted a straight-forward overhead slash at Saotome-san, who dodged   
to the left and then attempted to catch his opponent with an uppercut using his   
right hand, which was closed around the hilt of his katana.  
  
The assassin leapt back so fast that he blurred to avoid the strike, and   
then leapt forward just as quickly.  
  
The next thing Ukyo knew, the assassin had his sword buried up to the hilt   
in Saotome-san's stomach, the first half of the blade sticking out of his back.   
Saotome-san's eyes, which were already wide with surprise, grew even wider with   
pain as the assassin twisted the sword so that its blade faced sideways, and   
then cut it free of his body.  
  
Saotome-san's mouth gapped open and shut, like a fish suffocating in the   
air. He managed to whisper out an anguished: "Why, boy... why?" before his body   
shuddered and he coughed up a stream of blood, the convulsions running through   
his body sending another torrent of blood out of the wound in his side... He   
dropped his sword and grasped at the wound, as if trying to stop his entrails,   
which were now boiling out of the cut, from escaping. His strength quickly   
failed him though, and he first collapsed onto his knees, and then fell, face   
forward, onto the floor.  
  
Her father stared at the growing pool of blood, shaking in fear. He didn't   
even try to defend himself from the sword that took his life, cutting through   
him diagonally from shoulder to hip.  
  
Her mother screamed out in terror as she saw her husband fall to the   
ground in two pieces and shoved Ukyo back, away from the door where she had   
watched, too afraid to be able to look away.  
  
As Ukyo watched the tip of the assassin's sword emerge from her mother's   
back, some part of her mind idly noticed that the whistles she had heard before   
were much closer now and seemed to be accompanied by shouting voices.  
  
"This way! The assassin is attacking Kuonji-dono's house!"  
  
The assassin cursed, wrenched his sword out of her mother's body, and then   
ran out of the back of the house, his sword still dripping with her parents'   
blood. The long, red locks of his hair flew behind him as he ran. It almost   
seemed to Ukyo that his hair was a trail of blood, inseparable from him,   
following him everywhere he went, warning others that, if they crossed him,   
their blood would flow as well.  
  
Her mother turned her head towards Ukyo one last time and spoke in a   
ragged whisper.  
  
"Live, Ukyo... You're too..." She then coughed, blood pouring out of her   
mouth, before continuing, "too young to di..." Her last word was cut off by   
another fit of coughing and more blood, before the light that had shone in her   
mother's eyes fled... along with her spirit.  
  
The last thing Ukyo remembered hearing before she succumbed to the   
inviting darkness was the harsh shout of some man.  
  
"Wareware wa Shinsengumi!"(2)  
  
(1)"Tenchu" is translated as "Heaven's punishment". It is what assassins   
during the Bakumatsu claimed they were carrying out. That is to say, it   
was not them or their superiors who were choosing these men for death,   
but Heaven itself.  
  
(2) "Wareware wa Shinsengumi!" Litterally, 'We are the Shinsengumi!'   
  
*** *** ***  
  
Intellectually Ukyo knew that for the honor of her, now deceased, family   
she had to marry the son of Saotome Genma; her father had promised the dowry,   
he had accepted, and then then had begun drinking. She had thought Saotome was   
an honorable man, setting her up with a wonderful future... Yet.... She still   
couldn't get her mind around how that one action on the last day of her   
father's life had affected hers so greatly. Why did it even matter? No one but   
her family members knew of the engagement. Most of whom were already dead and   
the others wanted to keep it a secret.  
  
She knew, though, that in the eyes of everyone in town she was a lost   
cause. Her parents were died and, being female, she had no way to avenge them.   
It would have been much better if she had died along with her parents; there   
wasn't much of anything else she could've done.  
  
She had been left alone in the world, with no one to care for her but her   
father's parents, who agreed with the town people's thoughts and said that she   
should have died along with their son and his wife, instead of remaining alive   
as a reminder of their loss. She was just a burden to everyone, someone that   
should never have been born, or just some *thing* that should have died;   
nothing but a worthless creature!   
  
She wanted to join her parents, to follow them into the afterlife where   
she would be still loved by her friends and family. In her mind, though, she   
doubted whether or not she deserved such love. But it didn't matter; she needed   
to avenge her parents! No matter how long it would take, or how much she would   
be hurt, she was going to find the Hitokiri again... and kill him!  
  
For a while she had worked as a Shogunate agent, trying to follow the   
Hitokiri around in order to avenge her parents' death. That, however, had   
proven far to difficult a task for a mere eight-year-old girl. Perhaps if she   
had been older she might have actually provided some useful information to her   
controllers...   
  
But she was too weak then; she was useless!  
  
By the time the war had ended, the men who had taken her in and trained   
her had either died, or had conveniently forgotten who she was... Once again   
Ukyo was left all alone with no one who cared whether she lived or died.   
  
She thought maybe it was better to follow her parents, and the rest of her   
now dead family. But hatred had taken root too deep within her soul. She had to   
continue on! The hatred was like an addictive substance: sustaining her, yet   
poisoning her very being.   
  
She would live on and be strong like her mother had wanted!  
  
And so, Zanza had been born...  
  
Where Ukyo was weak, Zanza was strong. Zanza, the strongest street   
fighter in Tokyo hadn't been dishonored. No, he could indeed continue and   
succeed at the task that Ukyo had failed at.  
  
*Zanza* would be able to kill the Hitokiri.  
  
In the end though, Zanza had proven to be just as weak as Ukyo. He had   
dropped the years of planning revenge so quickly when she had actually met the   
man she had hated almost her whole life.  
  
Then THIS HAPPENED!  
  
Again she was all alone, with no alter-ego to hide behind. That had ended  
with the fight against Kenshin. When Ukyo had decided that she could still  
be his fiance, Zanza had died. Now all that was left again was her weakness.  
  
In her rage Ukyo struck out without looking, and hit one of the supports  
holding up a section of the roof of the old house she had called her home for  
so long now.  
  
Most of the roof caved in, leaving Ukyo covered in debris.  
  
"Maybe I'm not as weak as I thought..." Ukyo groaned before starting to   
dig herself out.  
  
She dragged herself from the house and out to the street, even at this   
time a loud crash could attract a crowd, and the one gathered in front of the  
house wasn't the smallest that there could have been. Her attention was suddenly   
caught by a figure fighting her way through the crowd.  
  
Ukyo grinned and cracked her knuckles, she needed a good fight to take her   
mind off of the mess her life had become.  
  
"So Kaoru, why'd you come after me? Shouldn't you be at home, or helping   
the murdering bastard find his whore?"  
  
Kaoru frowned. "Stop it, Ukyo! You're being an idiot!"  
  
Ukyo snarled, and prepared to attack. That insolent girl was going to   
pay... and she would not like the currency Ukyo was going to demand.  
  
Sharp gasps, and cries of admiration floated up from the crowd, which was   
riveted to the spot, watching the two women fight. They had initially expected   
the younger woman with the bokken to easily defeat the other, but seemed to have   
been mistaken.   
  
Each of the fighters held their own, neither getting in any particularly   
telling hits until Kaoru failed to recover quickly enough from an overhead slash   
with her bokken. Ukyo stepped onto the wooden weapon with all of the force she   
could muster, cracking it and causing it to slip from Kaoru's hands, impacting   
with her leg on its way to the ground.  
  
Kaoru leapt backwards, favoring her injured leg somewhat, and got into a   
shaky unarmed stance. It was obvious to the crowd, however, that she was not   
used to fighting in this manner.  
  
Ukyo smiled as she made her attack. She'd show that little bitch Kaoru   
that she shouldn't stick her nose where it didn't belong.  
  
A unified wince swept throughout the crowd as they watched the carnage   
that followed.  
  
As Ukyo looked at the beaten form of Kaoru lying on the ground, her mind   
was lost in thought... It didn't really help that she had just beaten a   
potential ally to a pulp, and since she had just destroyed her own house, it was   
likely to cause even more complications in the future, but right now, it made   
her feel better, and at the moment, that was all that mattered to her.  
  
As she walked away, Ukyo decided it was time to get something to drink.   
She really needed to get drunk right now.   
  
*** *** ***  
  
Nodoka wandered aimlessly through the dark streets of Tokyo. If it hadn't   
been for how pitiful Kenshin had sounded, she would have never gone out to look   
for his wife in the first place. It was probably the most futile thing she had   
ever done... and she had spent nearly two decades roaming Japan trying to find   
her son.  
  
She noticed some men standing on the corner leering at her,   
unconsciously she moved her hand as if to move to unwrap a bundle. She realized   
a split second later that there was no bundle anymore, almost panicking she   
turned around to run for it. She had taken her first quick step forward, moving   
as fast as her kimono would allow, when she saw something that made her stop in   
her tracks.  
  
There, walking up the street behind her, was a police officer, at least   
she thought he was one. He was dressed in the uniform of a normal officer but   
was carrying a Japanese sword. He didn't look like the sort that you would   
normally expect to be in the business of protecting the innocent, either. The   
set of his face gave him a certain... evil quality.  
  
In other words, he looked more like a villain than a hero.  
  
Nodoka almost panicked, but then he spoke to her, and she was filled with   
relief. She remembered him now... He was the partner of the officer who saved   
her.  
  
"It's awfully late Saotome-san, what are you doing out alone at this time   
of night, in this part of town?" Nodoka was relieved by his tone of voice, which   
at the moment seemed totally out of character for his appearance a second ago.  
  
"I was out looking for someone, I wonder if you've seen her... She's   
short, has red hair, and is, um... rather well endowed for her height. She   
goes by the name Himura Satsuko, I believe."  
  
Saito couldn't believe his ears. This could prove to be quite amusing...   
Oh yes, quite amusing indeed.  
  
Nodoka couldn't quite make out the expression on the man's face, it   
looked rather like he was trying very hard to stop himself from laughing and not   
quite succeeding.  
  
"Have you tried the Nekohanten? I believe that I've seen someone   
much like her in there several times... I think she's friends with the owner."  
  
Nodoka couldn't believe her good luck, she quickly thanked the officer   
and hurried as quickly as she could back to the Nekohanten. She knew she had   
wandered too far, and silently cursed herself... Of course Satsuko would be in   
their neighborhood, Kaoru *had* bumped into her after all.  
  
Saito watched Nodoka hurrying away as quickly as she could back to   
familiar territory. He had been worried that he might have to waste time on the   
bunch hanging around on the street corner to protect her...  
  
He set off in the same direction that Nodoka had just gone. This was going   
to be quite the show.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Kaoru walked dejectedly through the rain, which was once again pouring   
down in torrents. She didn't like getting soaked, but at least the rain would   
probably rinse some of the mud and her own blood off of her. Still, that one   
small benefit was no reason to enjoy being chilled to the bone. She held the   
cracked bokken loosely letting the tip drag along the ground. She guessed that   
it wasn't surprising that Ukyo had beaten her; she had been the top fighter for   
hire in Tokyo after all. Kaoru herself was just the assistant master of a run   
down, third-rate dojo... with no students.  
  
She stopped, collapsing to her knees once again as she grasped her wounds   
in pain and grimaced. The pain in her side from where Ukyo had struck her was   
back again, and the tears were streaming down her face for some reason... And   
in all of this, the best thing that had happened to her, the one thing that had   
been encouraging her... was a lie, it was all a lie.  
  
She wondered briefly if Kenshin had acquired the others as flunkies   
during his wanderings and if, like the Hiruma brothers, they were con men...   
Maybe they had all started showing up so they could push her out of her home and   
take over.  
  
She shook her head and pulled herself off of the ground... No, that was   
impossible; Kenshin wouldn't do that sort of thing. She knew all about Akane's   
past from talks with the girl, who seemed to be extremely inept at lying. Ukyo   
obviously still hadn't made up her mind whether she loved Kenshin... or wanted   
to kill him. And Nodoka? Well... Nodoka, to put it simply, was a raving looney.  
  
She walked slowly to the door of the Dojo. Running her hand down the sign   
outside, she walked through the still open doors. Kenshin was sitting exactly   
where he had been when she left, so still and motionless that he reminded her   
briefly of a statue. Where did that pillow that was on the ground next to him   
come from, anyway? Then, all of a sudden, the peace was disrupted by Kenshin,   
who sneezed loudly and then quickly ran his hand underneath his nose. He   
proceeded to collapse backwards with an extremely odd look on his face.  
  
Kaoru ran to his side, disregarding the fact that she was probably   
actually in worse shape than he was, and knelt down by his side, waving her hand   
in front of his eyes.  
  
"Satsuko... I think I caught a cold."  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Ukyo lifted her head from the position where it had been while she  
wept against the table in the Nekohanten, she had drunk a bit too much,  
but that had been her objective all along anyway. She watched as a red haired  
woman who looked to be about her age dragged herself in out of the pouring rain  
that must have started up again during the time she had been inside drinking.  
  
She watched as Tsu Hsi walked up to the woman and then looked around. She   
then walked right over to Ukyo's table.  
  
"Ukyo would you mind if this young lady sat here to dry off? There isn't  
another place in here for her to sit right now."  
  
Ukyo made a small dismissive motion with her hand.  
  
"Sure, the more the merrier right?" She said slowly, trying very hard to  
not sound as drunk as she was.  
  
The red haired woman sat down across from her, she was soaked from the   
rain, and looked terrible. She wasn't able to ascertain that much more about her   
companion, though, as her attention was taken by a small voice from near the   
foot of her table.  
  
"Hey, you're that lady that fought the other young woman near the run-down  
building, right?" asked an excited young girl who held a wooden sakabattou in   
her hand. "You were so amazing! Would you teach me how to fight like you?"  
  
Ukyo looked at the child in front of her, what was she blithering on   
about... a fight? She wanted to *fight* her?   
  
The child, who had long black hair, stared up at her eagerly, awaiting her   
decision.  
  
Ukyo thought for several moments and then sneered. "Go bother someone   
else, kid. You aren't worth my time."  
  
The child's shoulders slumped in defeat and her fist clenched in the   
fabric of her blue shirt while tears began to gather in her eyes. She then   
turned to face the warrior's companion, not wanting to show weakness in front of   
her idol. Noting almost absently, as she turned, that to her side were two   
oddly-dressed men bickering about something that seemed rather unimportant.  
  
The redhead sitting at the same table as the warrior was staring into her  
cup of tea, studiously ignoring everything going on around her. She was  
also, as the young girl noticed, trying to hide her face from newcomers to  
the restaurant...  
  
The fact that she was dressed in full police uniform, and carrying a   
katana did not help her one bit.  
  
The girl backed away from the table and stared dejectedly at the ground.   
The warrior was her idol and she had just been mean to her! Her lips began to   
tremble as she headed back towards the table where her friends sat.  
  
As she looked up, her eyes lit up seeing the yellow plush chocobo doll on  
her table. She ran for it but tripped into a drunk man. His breath stunk  
and he aggressively pushed the child away, making her fall backwards with a   
little cry of terror.  
  
She landed roughly on the ground, just by the warrior's table and started  
wailing. "Wahhhhhhh! My chocobo doll!"  
  
Another, not-quite-so-drunk man stumbled out of a nearby booth and over to  
the young girl and started to help her back up, being careful not to put too   
much strain on his injured hand.  
  
"You alright, miss?"  
  
He then looked up and saw the former fighter-for-hire peering at him  
intently... His response was quite reasonable, actually.  
  
"Oh *Kami* no... Not you again!!!!"  
  
The woman's eyes sparked in anger and she surged forward and caught the   
man with a powerful uppercut, tossing him across the room and onto a table  
occupied by several rough looking men.  
  
The child looked up at her warrior and then wailed again. "Wahhhh! You're   
so mean!" She then stood up, smacked the woman in the shin with her wooden   
sakabattou, and ran to the man who had attempted to help her up, sobbing all   
over him. "Are you alright, mister?"  
  
She looked around for something, and then held up something brown to the   
injured man's face. "Here! You can have my specially friend, Mr. Beige Chocobo!"  
  
The group of men, who were sitting at the table the man had landed on,   
stood up and walked over to stand near Ukyo, scowling at her. "What in hell do   
you think you're doing, lady?"  
  
Ukyo ignored them and glared at the child who had, in her mind, caused   
this whole problem. Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides as she began   
to step forward slowly. A hand on her shoulder stopped her in the tracks,   
though.  
  
"The girl has done nothing, Ukyo-san. You shouldn't take your frustrations   
out on her."  
  
Ukyo then turned to glare at the woman who had dared to keep her from   
taking out her frustrations. She then smirked as she grabbed a hold of the arm   
that restrained her and rolled backwards, while planting a foot in the other   
woman's stomach. The red-head flew through the air with a startled shout, and   
landed, like the injured man before her, on the table that had been occupied by   
the rough looking men. She barely missed knocking over both the man in the   
light-brown shirt and several of the men who had been sitting at the table on   
her way down.  
  
The apparent leader of the ruffians looked back and forth between the   
disaster area that had once been his table and Ukyo, who was now visibly   
smirking. His face began to redden, and the other patrons in the restaurant   
swore that they could almost see steam exiting his ears.  
  
"THAT'S IT!!! GET THAT BITCH!!!"  
  
As the situation degenerated to what could only be compared to the chaos   
of a pitched battle, Tsu Hsi groaned and kneaded her forehead in her hands... It   
was going to be a loooong evening.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Nodoka walked desperately through the rain, somewhere out here was her   
son's long lost wife, the woman he had thought was dead. She could forgive her   
daughter in law for being away so long... After all, she probably believed that   
Kenshin was dead too.  
  
Most likely, she had lived the life of a poor widow for many years just as   
Nodoka herself had. She knew how sad and lonely that existence could be. Most   
likely she would jump at the chance to come and once again live with her family.  
  
Nodoka drifted back into her dream world, her son and his wife at the  
family farm back in Satsuma, with lots of little red haired children running  
around. Caring for their mother in her old age, and there she was dressed  
in a fine kimono looking out on the garden of the small home that she had once  
lived in with her own husband so many years ago.  
  
A passing carriage brought Nodoka back to reality as she was splashed with  
water from a mud puddle. She realized just how wet and cold it was, and  
shivered slightly as she walked in the door of the restaurant that they had  
eaten at not so long ago.  
  
The interior was a mess, there was spilt food everywhere, the two women   
who ran the store were standing at the back, valiantly attempting to defend the   
kitchen, at least, from the chaos that had consumed the dining room.  
  
Nodoka looked around for the source of what had happened, she could hear  
fighting going on, but with all the noise inside she couldn't place where  
it was coming from, until she was knocked over by something, or someone, hitting   
her in the side.   
  
She fell backwards, and landed right on top of a jug full of sake,   
breaking it and spilling its contents all over her kimono. She sat back and   
stared out in shock... Just what was going on here?  
  
The one who had knocked her over got up, and pulled Nodoka to her feet.  
As their eyes made contact, the redhead who had just helped the older  
woman up froze in terror.  
  
Nodoka's eyes lit up with recognition, and latched to her daughter in law  
with the force of a vice.  
  
"Oh how I've looked for you since I heard you were still alive! Your   
husband so wants to see you."  
  
Satsuko was still frozen in terror when Nodoka grabbed hold of her by the   
hair. She then dragged Satsuko out into the rain, stepping unconcernedly over   
the unconscious form of Ukyo in the process, and leading the terrified Satsuko   
to a meeting that she had been dreading for thirteen years.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Kaoru watched as Kenshin sipped the tea that she had made on her arrival  
back at the dojo. He didn't seem nearly as disturbed as he had earlier,  
but that didn't change the fact that they were both quite cold. She was soaked   
from the rain, and he had been sitting near an open door for several hours.   
Their condition was, however, improving rapidly and Kenshin looked almost ready  
to talk, explaining what he had said earlier.  
  
Kaoru still couldn't believe what Kenshin had told her that afternoon, if   
it was true, that he had been married once, when could it possibly have been?   
Back during the war he had only been in his early teens, and she seriously   
doubted that he would have taken the time to get married back then.  
  
Suddenly her thoughts arrived at a different possibility... Could it be  
that Kenshin had just wandered the countryside looking for young, lonely  
girls, settle down for a while when he found one, and then...   
  
Kaoru's newly-formed anger was dissipated when she heard Kenshin's voice.   
He was, once again, speaking very softly, and his voice still sounded sad, but   
she was just glad that he had started speaking again.  
  
"I married Satsuko just over thirteen years ago now..."  
  
Kenshin paused to take a sip from his tea before continuing, but was   
interrupted by the sound of the door to the dojo sliding open, and someone,   
probably Nodoka, entering the room. And by the sound of it, Kaoru thought she   
was dragging someone along with her too.  
  
She didn't even bother to turn around to see what was going on, because  
she knew that the only people that Nodoka could possibly be bringing back  
were either Ukyo, or... She didn't even want to think about that possibility.  
  
So, without turning around, she began speaking...  
  
"So you found Ukyo, did you, Nodoka-sa..."  
  
Only to be interrupted by Nodoka, who, to tell the truth, was a bit over-  
enthusiastic.  
  
"Oh my son I know you'll be so happy to see who I brought back with me!"  
and with that she pulled the person around and held them out in front of  
her.  
  
Kenshin looked up, and his eyes bulged in disbelief. Without warning, a   
mouthful of hot tea sprayed from his mouth and all over Kaoru, Nodoka... and   
Nodoka's reluctant guest.  
  
Kaoru sighed, looking down at her own clothes. They were already so soaked  
that a little bit more wouldn't hurt them. She then turned around to see if   
Nodoka was alright, and was greeted by the sight of the police officer who she   
had seen around the neighborhood looking thoroughly soaked... and quite annoyed.  
  
It was then that the odor of sake from Nodoka's clothes hit Kaoru. She   
wrinkled up her nose in disgust and began to rub her forehead; this next   
headache was going to be a big one.  
  
Since everyone was being quiet anyway, the police officer took the   
opportunity to speak. "Himura-san... I really must ask you to attempt to take   
care of your mother a bit better. I found her wandering the streets drunk, and   
when I confronted her about it she knocked me out... Please don't ask how...   
It's a bit embarrassing. She apparently dragged me back here afterwards."  
  
Kenshin was still in shock, not believing what he had just seen.  
  
The officer turned around and began to walk out the door.  
  
"I'll let you off with a warning this time. But in the future try to  
keep your mother away from that much sake. I found her immersed in the contents   
of an entire jug... I'm sure that whatever you did to drive your dear mother to   
drink simply isn't very... manly."  
  
And with that, he stepped out into the dawn, leaving a totally confused,  
Kenshin and Nodoka.  
  
Along with one seriously pissed Kaoru...  
  
"Kenshin! I want to know everything! What did you mean she's your wife?!  
What have you been up to these past 13 years! Did you think you could   
just wander off and leave her, you Cassonova!"  
  
With that said, she began smashing him over the head repeatedly with one   
of the bokken that were conveniently placed all around the dojo.  
  
****** ***  
  
Saito sat at one of the few tables in the Nekohanten that was still   
intact. Needless to say he was more than a little annoyed at having missed the   
action during the night, but, by the time he arrived, Nodoka had already left   
with her intended victim. He sighed and took another sip from his cup of   
tea.  
  
Just then, Ranma walked in the door. He looked a little worse for wear   
after the night he had. As he walked towards the back of the restaurant, he   
reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash, which Tsu Hsi quickly   
snatched out of his hand as soon as he walked up to her. Saito then watched as   
Ranma futilely tried to at least recapture some of his money, but was quickly   
knocked to the floor by the enraged Amazon.  
  
After five minutes of listening to an angry woman later, and still rubbing   
his head (although now more to massage his pained ears, rather than the spot   
where he had been struck), Ranma sat down across from Saito, and gratefully   
accepted a cup of tea from Khu Lon who had just brought out it for him from the   
kitchen. She then took the teapot that had been sitting, empty, on the table   
back to refill it.  
  
After she had gone, Ranma snorted in anger. "That's the least they could   
do... Did you know she just took three full months-worth of salary from me?!"  
  
"You know you got off lucky, Saotome... You left here without paying last   
night, and they are *quite* strict about that sort of thing." Ranma's face   
turned a very interesting shade of red, and Saito chuckled in dark amusement   
about his associate's discomfort.  
  
"That's all I need today; an engagement to deal with! I've had enough   
troubles with marriage as it is! Damn those archaic Amazon laws of theirs!"  
  
Saito smiled amusedly, and waved off Ranma's comments. "Don't worry about   
it, Saotome. There were circumstances beyond your control involved. Besides, Tsu   
Hsi-san wouldn't be able to force you to do anything that you didn't want to,   
and Khu Lon is a little too young for you... While we're on the subject of   
engagements, however, this came for you." He then handed Ranma a small slip of   
paper from his jacket.  
  
Ranma growled as he accepted the proffered message. "What is it now?   
Another babysitting assignment? Do I have to make sure that another pencil-  
pusher isn't pushing up the daisies any time soon again? I certainly hope it   
doesn't rain again. You know how much I hate it when my *sister* has to get   
involved in this sort of thing. I've had about as much of her 'husband' as I can   
stand for the time being."  
  
Saito chuckled softly. "Fortunate for you, then, that it shouldn't involve   
him at all... Only a pest who seems to be stirring up trouble in your area of   
concern."  
  
Ranma then opened up the note in order to read its contents. "Kurogasa has   
targeted Tani-san for assassination. Please attempt to stop him and contain the   
damage, if you are able. - National Chief of Police Kawaji"  
  
Ranma smiled darkly, "The fool is finally showing his face in an area   
that's under my protection, is he? That will be the last mistake he ever makes."  
  
Saito raised an eyebrow. "I take it you're accepting the 'babysitting'   
mission after all then, aren't you?"  
  
Ranma laughed out loud for a moment before he got himself under control.  
  
"Of course I'm accepting the mission. Keeping idiots like him from running   
rampant is the entirety of my job description. I'm just helping you with your   
evaluation of Himura 'Battousai' to keep him from paying too much attention to   
you. After all, it wouldn't do if you weren't able to make a proper assessment   
of his skills, now would it? We need every capable man we can get to deal with   
Shishio once he shows himself again."  
  
Saito glared at Ranma for a moment... and then took another sip of tea.  
  
*********  
  
Authors' note: After 6 months of delay, we're finally finished with part 6.   
Silver is back at home job-hunting, and Beige is back at college attempting to   
wade through a stack of paperwork concerning his trip to Japan last semester. We   
apologize for the delay, but it was pretty much inevitable. Both of our lives   
seemed to conspire to make working on the fic pretty much impossible, and we   
haven't been able to get anything done on it until lately.  
  
We are also looking for a new place to host our main page. If we're lucky, we'll   
be able to scrounge up enough money to purchase our own domain name, but are   
also looking for alternatives to doing so. For instance, we just sent in an   
application for webspace at anifics.com.  
  
At any rate, the geocities pages are most likely not going to last much longer.   
As soon as we can move, we will. Silver is even working on a new page layout for   
once we make the move.  
  
Part 7 should be out fairly quickly. Beige has first draft for this one, and has   
already been plotting out exactly how he wants it to go. After that, expect part   
8, the prologue of "Child of Murder", and an interlude to follow shortly as   
well.  
  
In case you didn't notice, there was another SI in this chapter. It was also   
accompanied by what we'd like to term an OAI, or "Other Author Insertion". Kudos   
to those who can guess who it is. If you *do* guess, tell us. We just might give   
you some sort of reward. (that, and we like getting e-mail)  
  
This fic can be found at the following locations:  
http://www.fanfiction.net  
http://miniarchive.dyndns.org:8080/cgi-bin/MiniArchive.exe  
http://www.geocities.com/chocoroost  
http://www.crosswinds.net/~salee/  
http://www.geocities.com/bambi_star9/  
  
Please send C&C to: silverchoco33@icqmail.com  
richard.o.sienkewicz@lawrence.edu  
  
  
Flames will be used to roast marshmallows in an outside camping trip as we enjoy   
the unseasonably warm weather.  
  
Special thanks go to Bambi Star, who preread this, and just gave up nine solid   
hours of her time to finish editing the final scenes and then go back over the   
whole thing to catch any mistakes we might have missed. 


End file.
